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What is the Solar System?
Putting in simple terms the solar system can be understood as the sun and all the celestial bodies that revolve around the sun. All the bodies orbiting around the sun are known to be a part of the solar system. These bodies include planets, satellites, various asteroids, comets and so on. The objects are held by a special gravitational pull that makes them rotate around the sun. The gravitational pull of the sun is the power that has bound together these bodies in the universe and makes them rotate around it.
Definition of Solar System:
The solar system can be defined as the combination of all the 8 planets revolving round the sun along with the various bodies.
How many Planets are there in the Solar System?
Planets are the heavy celestial bodies that revolve around the sun. The revolution of the planets takes place in fixed orbits. Planets in the solar system do not have their light and thus they make use of the biggest star of the solar system, the sun as the source of light. There are a total of eight planets in our solar system. Out of these eight planets four planets are known to be in the inner part of the solar system and the other four are known to be in the outer portion of the solar system.
The planets revolve around the sun in the following order, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Out of these eight planets the first four ones namely, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars form the inner part of the solar system and the remaining four planets namely, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune form the outer part of the solar system. An in-detailed explanation about the planets of the solar system has been mentioned below,
Mercury: Mercury is the first planet in the solar system. This planet is only visible before the rise or after the setting of the sun as it later gets hidden in the brightness of the sunlight.
Venus: Venus is the second planet in the solar system. The planet Venus is the brightest among all the other planets present in the solar system. Planet Venus is also known as the morning star.
Earth: Earth is the third planet in the solar system. It is the only place in the solar system where the residence of life takes place. The suitable atmosphere, appropriate distance to the sun and the presence of oxygen and water make life possible on earth.
Mars: Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system. It is also known as the ‘Red Planet’ due to the presence of an excess amount of reddish iron oxide. The planet Mars has two natural satellites.
Jupiter: Jupiter is the fifth planet in the solar system. It is the biggest planet of all the eight planets. Planet Jupiter has as many as 67 moons.
Saturn: Saturn is the sixth planet of the solar system. It is the second biggest planet in the solar system next to Jupiter. The planet has various rings.
Uranus: Uranus is the seventh planet of the solar system. Like Venus, it rotates in the direction of east to west.
Neptune: This is the eighth and the last planet in our solar system. This planet is the farthest planet from the sun.
Who discovered the Solar System?
Several names used to be mentioned when there used to be a discussion about the person who discovered the solar system. Finally, it was found out that it was the Polish astronomer who had proposed the theory of the heliocentric model. The model says that the sun is in the middle of the universe and all the other planets revolve around it. The theory and the discovery were made by the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
