Planet Facts

There are 8 planets in our solar system, they

are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Planets in our solar system can be divided into two main groups, Terrestrial
Planets and Gas Giants. Planets that orbit other stars are referred to as Exoplanets.

Click on any planet below to find out more about it:

The Planets

Mercury Facts

Venus Facts
Earth Facts

Mars Facts

Jupiter Facts
 Saturn Facts

Uranus Facts

Neptune Facts

Facts about the Planets

 Mercury’s craters are named after famous artists, musicians and authors.
 Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system.
 Earth’s atmosphere protects us from meteoroids and radiation from the Sun.
 There have been more missions to Mars than any other planet.
 Jupiter has more than double the mass of all the other planets combined.
 Saturn has more moons than any other planet in the Solar System.
 Uranus has only been visited by a single spacecraft, Voyager 2.
 It takes like more than 4 hours for light to reach Neptune from the Sun.
 Only 8 planets have been discovered in our solar system but there is compelling
evidence for a 9th planet.
 With the exception of Neptune and Uranus the other 6 planets can be seen
unaided and all 8 are visible with a small telescope or binoculars.
 Together the planets make up 0.14% of the solar systems mass, 99% of which is
the gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune).
 Except for the Earth, the planets are named after gods from Roman and Greek
mythology.

Size and Order of the Planets

The planets size

comparison: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune

The order of the planets from closest to the Sun outwards is; Mercury, Venus, Earth,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and finally Neptune.

The largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter, followed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune,
Earth, Venus, Mars with the smallest being Mercury.
 The table below shows the size of the planet, how far it is from the Sun and how long it
takes to complete a single orbit.

Name Diameter Distance from Sun Length of Year:

Mercury 4,879 km 57,909,227 km 88 Earth days

Venus 12,104 km 108,209,475 km 225 Earth days

Earth 12,742 km 149,598,262 km 365.24 days

Mars 6,779 km 227,943,824 km 1.9 Earth years

Jupiter 139,822 km 778,340,821 km 11.9 Earth years

Saturn 116,464 km 1,426,666,422 km 29.5 Earth years

Uranus 50,724 km 2,870,658,186 km 84.0 Earth years

Neptune 49,244 km 4,498,396,441 km 164.8 Earth years

What is a Planet?
Planets are among the many worlds and smaller objects that orbit the Sun. The formal
definition of planet, as voted on by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, is as
follows:

A planet is a celestial body that

a. is in orbit around the Sun,

b. has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it
assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and
c. has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

Under this definition, Pluto is NOT a planet, but has been deemed a dwarf
planet because it has not yet cleared its orbit. This definition is under discussion,
particularly by members of the planetary science community, and it may yet be further
refined.