Do you know
where we live?
Yes, of
course, that’s a silly question.
We all know
that we live on our beautiful planet Earth, which is the third of the eight
planets circling our local star- the Sun. This system of the Sun, the eight
planets, three small dwarf planets, and some masses of dust, rocks and gasses
called comets and asteroids together is called the one and only- Solar System.
The Solar
System, in turn, along with thousands of other stars and heavenly bodies,
slowly circles the centre of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. The Milky Way,
with a staggering number of other galaxies, and other matter, forms the
Universe, of which only a fraction is visible to us. The rest remains a
mystery, though scientists do have different hypotheses and opinions about
what might be there. We call the part of the Universe which is visible to us
“The Observable Universe”.
Anyway,
getting back to our discussion about the Solar System. The whole of the Solar
System orbits the Sun, a huge ball of burning iron. It has some parts which are
moderately cool, though the heat is still enough to burn human bodies. In the
other areas, the Sun is super, super hot. If any of the planets were to go too
close to the Sun, the Sun would burn them down to ashes. Bye planets!
Earlier,
there used to be nine planets orbiting the Sun- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Most of these planets have been
named after Greek or Roman gods.
Recently,
Pluto has been demoted to the rank of a dwarf planet. There are a few
requirements that a heavenly body must fulfil to be considered a planet. It has
recently been found that Pluto does not fulfil all these requirements. Pluto is
now one of the three dwarf planets in our Solar System.
Now, from
the eight planets that remain orbiting the Sun, four of the planets are mostly
composed of hard rock. These are the inner planets- Mercury is the smallest of
these planets. Then comes Venus, the second planet orbiting the Sun. Next comes
our very own planet Earth, the only planet known to have life forms. The last
of the inner planets is Mars- the Red Planet. It is called so because of its
reddish appearance, caused by iron on the planet’s surface. Scientists think
that there might be some life forms on Mars, because ice has been found in the
planet’s poles. Good luck to the scientists to find other planets with life!
After the
inner planets, comes the Asteroid Belt. This is a pretty large mass of dust and
rocks and space debris. These ‘rocks’ are called comets and asteroids. Along
with the planets, this Belt also orbits the Sun. When an asteroid comes too
close to the Earth, it disintegrates in the Earth’s atmosphere. The asteroid
breaks into a meteor, which enters the atmosphere and forms a meteorite. These
meteorites seem to fall across the sky, making it look like a ‘shooting star’.
(Don’t waste your time wishing for gifts if you see a shooting star, because
now you know that it is just a meteorite, and it won’t grant your wish!)
Anyway,
after the Asteroid Belt comes the outer planets. These planets have rings
around them, all made of ice and rocks. These planets are mainly made of gas,
with just the core made of rock. If you were to punch these planets, your hand
would just go clean through the gas! How weird is that?
First up, we
have Jupiter, the king of all planets. It is the largest planet in the Solar
System. Jupiter is also the record holder for the most moons- the number being
around 60. Jupiter is so huge that around 250 Earth-sized planets could
probably fit inside it! Jupiter looks as if many red, mauve and orange and
brown clouds are circling it, in layers. Jupiter’s main attraction is ‘The
Great Red Spot’, a massive storm that has been raging on the planet’s surface
for 200 years or more. This storm is greater and powerful than all the storms
that have ever happened on the Earth. (Yikes!)
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