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A brief histroy of Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects

gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse

of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Of the many

objects that orbit the Sun, most of the mass is contained within eight

relatively solitary planetswhose orbits are almost circular and lie within a

nearly flat disc called the ecliptic plane.

The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, also called

the terrestrial planets, are primarily composed of rock and metal. The four

outer planets, the gas giants, are substantially more massive than the

terrestrials. The two largest, Jupiter and Saturn, are composed mainly of

hydrogen and helium; the two outermost planets, Uranus and Neptune, are

composed largely of ices, such as water, ammonia and methane, and are

often referred to separately as ice giants.

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the

Solar System. It is almost perfectly

spherical and consists of hot plasma

interwoven with magnetic fields. The

Sun is a G-type main sequence star

comprising about 99.8632% of the total

mass of the Solar System. It is a near-

perfect sphere, with an oblateness

estimated at about 9 millionths, which

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_objectshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formation_and_evolution_of_the_solar_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_cloudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_of_the_ecliptichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_%28planet%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_planetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_gianthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptunehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatileshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_%28physics%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_fieldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-type_main_sequence_starhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblatenesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblatenesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-type_main_sequence_starhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_fieldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_%28physics%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatileshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptunehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_gianthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_planetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_%28planet%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plane_of_the_ecliptichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_cloudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formation_and_evolution_of_the_solar_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_objectshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun

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means that its polar diameter differs from its equatorial diameter by only

10 km.

Astronomers think that the Sun (and the planets) formed from the solar

nebula about 4.59 billion years ago. The Sun is in the main sequence stage

right now, slowly using up its hydrogen fuel. But at some point, in about 5

billion years from now, the Sun will enter the red giant phase, where it

swells up to consume the inner planets including Earth (probably). It will

slough off its outer layers and then shrink back down to a relatively tiny

white dwarf.

mean diameter 1.392 x 106 km

equatorial radius 6.955 x 108

m

volume 1.412 x 1018 km3

mass 1.9891 x 1030 kg

equatorial surface gravity 274.0 m/s2

escape velocity 617.7 km/s

equatorial rotational velocity 1997 m/s

mean distance from Galatic Center 2.5 x 1017 km

orbital velocity of solar system 251 km/s

Mercury

aphelion 6.9817 x 1010 m

perihelion 4.6 x 1010 m

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mean radius 2.4397 x 106 m

volume 6.083 x 1010 km3

mass 3.3022 x 1023 kg

equatorial surface gravity 3.7 m/s2

escape velocity 4250 m/s

orbital velocity 4.787 x 104 m/s

rotational velocity 3.026 m/s

Venus

aphelion 1.0894 x 1011

m

perihelion 1.0747 x 1011 m

mean radius 6.0518 x 106 m

volume 9.38 x 1011 km3

mass 4.8685 x 1024 kg

equatorial surface gravity 8.87 m/s2

escape velocity 1.046 x 104 m/s

orbital velocity 3.502 x 104

m/s

rotational velocity 1.81 m/s

Earth

aphelion 1.5209 x 1011 m

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perihelion 1.4709 x 1011 m

equatorial radius 6.3781 x 106 m

polar radius 6.3568 x106 m

mean radius 6.371 x 106 m

volume 1.0832 x 1012 km3

mass 5.9736 x 1024 kg

equatorial surface gravity 9.78 m/s2

escape velocity 1.1186 x 104 m/s

orbital velocity 2.978 x 104

m/s

rotational velocity 465.1 m/s

Mars

aphelion 2.4921 x 1011 m

perihelion 1.0667 x 1011 m

equatorial radius 3.3962 x106

m

polar radius 3.3763 x 106 m

mean radius 3.3862 x 106

m

volume 1.6318 x 1011 km3

mass 6.4185 x 1023 kg

equatorial surface gravity 3.711 m/s2

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escape velocity 5027 m/s

orbital velocity 2.4077 x 104 m/s

rotational velocity 241.17 m/s

Jupiter

aphelion 8.1652 x 1011 m

perihelion 7.4057 x 1011 m

equatorial radius 7.1492 x 107 m

polar radius 6.6854 x 107 m

mean radius 6.9911 x107

m

volume 1.4313 x 1015 km3

mass 1.8986 x 1027 kg

equatorial surface gravity 24.79 m/s2

escape velocity 5.95 x 104 m/s

orbital velocity 1.307 x 104

m/s

rotational velocity 1.26 x 104 m/s

Saturn

aphelion 1.5133 x 1012 m

perihelion 1.3535 x 1012 m

equatorial radius 6.0268 x 107 m

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polar radius 5.4364 x 107 m

mean radius 5.7316 x 107 m

volume 8.2713 x 1014 km3

mass 5.6846 x 1026 kg

equatorial surface gravity 10.44 m/s2

escape velocity 3.55 x104 m/s

orbital velocity 9690 m/s

rotational velocity 9870 m/s

Uranus

aphelion 3.0044 x 1012 m

perihelion 2.7489 x 1012 m

equatorial radius 2.5559 x 107 m

polar radius 2.4973 x 107 m

mean radius 2.5266 x 107

m

volume 6.833 x 1013 km3

mass 8.681 x 1025

kg

equatorial surface gravity 8.69 m/s2

escape velocity 2.13 x104 m/s

orbital velocity 6810 m/s

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rotational velocity 2590 m/s

Neptune

aphelion 4.5539 x 1012 m

perihelion 4.4529 x 1012 m

equatorial radius 2.4764 x 107 m

polar radius 2.4341 x 107 m

mean radius 2.4553 x107 m

volume 6.254 x1013 km3

mass 1.0243 x1026

kg

equatorial surface gravity 11.15 m/s2

escape velocity 2.35 x104 m/s

orbital velocity 5430 m/s

rotational velocity 2680 m/s

Moon

apogee 4.0541 x 108 m

perigee 3.6257 x 108

m

equatorial radius 1.7381 x 106 m

polar radius 1.7359 x 106 m

mean radius 1.737 x 106 m

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volume 2.1958 x 1010 km3

mass 7.3477 x 1022 kg

equatorial surface gravity 1.622 m/s2

escape velocity 2380 m/s

orbital velocity 1022 m/s

rotational velocity 4.627 m/s