The Solar System

The Solar System

   The Solar System is one of the star systems present in the Universe. The Solar System is believed to have formed about 4.6 billion years ago due to the collapse of the Molecular cloud which also lead tho the formation of the Sun and the constituents planets of the Solar System. All of the things present in the Solar System orbit around the Sun in an elliptical plane or orbital plane. Most of the mass of the Solar System is because of the sun which provides 98.86% of the total mass. The objects orbiting around the Solar System are Planets, Asteroids Meteoroids, Comets etc..

     The Solar System is composed of 8 different planets, formerly 9, the 9th being Pluto, was exterminated as a planet because it could not fulfill the criteria of a planet and was regarded as a Dwarf planet.
     The planets according to their arrangement are like this:

1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
5. Jupiter
6. Saturn
7. Uranus
8. Neptune

 The first four planets, i.e Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are called Rocky Planets or Terrestrial Planets because they are mostly made up of rocks. These are also known as Inner Planets.  The next two Jupiter and Saturn are called Gas Giants since they are made up of gases mainly Hydrogen and Helium. The last two Uranus and Neptune are called Ice Planets because they are mainly made up of ice. They are so far away from the Sun that they hardly receive any sunlight and so they are very cold.

Why do the planets orbit around the sun???

  The Sun is so huge that the whole of the Solar System is affected by the gravitational pull of the sun. The Sun keeps the planets in their places and they move around the Sun. Professor Albert Einstein showed this in a whole new concept through his 'General Theory of Relativity'. He said that in space, Time, the 4th dimension, combines with the other three dimensions creating layer of space and time which holds the objects. The heavier the objects, the deeper the layer goes creating a depression which ultimately makes the other objects move around just like the Sun. 

   

   Kepler's laws of planetary motion describe the orbits of objects about the Sun. According to Kepler's laws, each object travels along an ellipse with the Sun at one focus. Objects closer to the Sun (with smaller semi-major axes) travel more quickly, as they are more affected by the Sun's gravity. On an elliptical orbit, a body's distance from the Sun varies over the course of its year. A body's closest approach to the Sun is called its perihelion, while its most distant point from the Sun is called its aphelion. The orbits of the planets are nearly circular, but many comets, asteroids and Kuiper belt objects follow highly elliptical orbits.