Our planetary system is named the " Solar System ". Our Sun is named Sol, after the Latin word for Sun, solis. Anything that is related to the Sun is called solar."There are many planetary systems like ours in the universe, with planets orbiting a host star.
moons
asteroids
comets
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The Solar System is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy.
Beyond our own solar system, we have discovered thousands of other planetary systems orbiting other stars in the Milky Way. Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything thats is bound to it by gravity: the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, dwarf planets (such as Pluto), dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, comets and meteoroids. Let's take a closer look to some of them:
Sun
The Sun is a yellow dwarf star. It is basically a hot ball of glowing gases at the heart of our Solar System. Its gravity holds everything from the biggest planets to tiny debris in its orbit.
Latin word for Sun:
SOL Length of year - 230 Million Earth years
Mercury
Mercury is the smallest planet in our Solar System and it is also the closest one to the Sun. Mercury is only slightly larger than the Earth's Moon. Moreover, it is the fastest planet, zipping around the Sun every 88 Earth days.
Meaning: GOD OF SPEED Length of year - 88 Earth days
Venus
Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction from most planets. It is considered the hottest planet in our Solar System, as a thick atmosphere traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect.
Meaning: ROMAN GODDESS OF LOVE Length of year - 225 Earth days
Earth
The planet Earth, which is our home planet, is the only planet in our Solar System with liquid water on the surface, as well as the only place we know of so far that’s inhabited by living things.
Meaning: VARIATION OF "THE ROUND" IN MANY LANGUAGES Length of year - 365.25 Earth days
Mars
Mars is a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere. There is strong evidence that proves that Mars was, billions of years ago, wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere.
Meaning: ROMAN GOD OF WAR Length of year - 1.88 Earth years
Jupiter
Jupiter is more than twice as massive than the other planets of our Solar System combined. The giant planet's Great Red spot is a centuries-old storm bigger than planet Earth.
Meaning: KING OF THE ROMAN GODS Length of year - 11.86 Earth years
Saturn
Saturn is adorned with a dazzling, complex system of icy rings. This planet is unique in our Solar System. The other giant planets have rings, but none are as spectacular as Saturn's.
Meaning: FATHER OF JUPITER Length of year - 29.45 Earth years
Uranus
Uranus is the 7th planet from the Sun. It rotates at a nearly 90º angle from the plane of its orbit. This unique tilt makes Uranus appear to spin on its side.
Meaning: GREEK GOD OF THE SKY Length of year - 84 Earth years
Neptune
Neptune isthe 8th and most distant major planet orbiting our Sun. Neptune is dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds. It was the 1st planet located through mathematical calculations, rather than by telescope.
Meaning: ROMAN GOD OF THE SEA Length of year - 164.81 Earth years
Pluto
Pluto was once considered the 9th planet. It is a complex world of ice mountains and frozen plains. Pluto is the largest member of the Kuiper Belt and the best known of a new class of worlds called dwarf planets.
Meaning: ROMAN GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD Length of year - 248.89 Earth years
Asteroids
Asteroids are sometimes called minor planets. They are rocky, airless remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.
Comets
Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock and ices.
They range from a few miles to tens of miles wide, but as they orbit closer to the Sun, they heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet. This material forms a tail that stretches millions of miles.
Meteors and Meteorites
Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids. Think of them as space rocks.
When meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere, or the atmosphere of another planet, at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or shooting stars are called meteors.
When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it’s called a meteorite.
