Comparison of the sizes of stars and planets. Comparison of the sizes of the largest known stars with our Sun

Our Solar System consists of the Sun, the planets orbiting it, and smaller celestial bodies. All of these are mysterious and surprising because they are still not fully understood. Below will be indicated the sizes of the planets of the solar system in ascending order, and a brief description of the planets themselves.

There is a well-known list of planets, in which they are listed in order of their distance from the Sun:

On last place Pluto used to be there, but in 2006 it lost its status as a planet, as larger celestial bodies were found further away from it. The listed planets are divided into rocky (inner) and giant planets.

Brief information about rocky planets

The inner (rocky) planets include those bodies that are located inside the asteroid belt separating Mars and Jupiter. They got their name “stone” because they consist of various hard rocks, minerals and metals. They are united by a small number or absence of satellites and rings (like Saturn). On the surface of rocky planets there are volcanoes, depressions and craters formed as a result of the fall of other cosmic bodies.

But if you compare their sizes and arrange them in ascending order, the list will look like this:

Brief information about the giant planets

The giant planets are located beyond the asteroid belt and therefore are also called outer planets. They consist of very light gases - hydrogen and helium. These include:

But if you make a list by the size of the planets in the solar system in ascending order, the order changes:

A little information about the planets

In modern scientific understanding, a planet means a celestial body that revolves around the Sun and has sufficient mass for its own gravity. Thus, there are 8 planets in our system, and, importantly, these bodies are not similar to each other: each has its own unique differences, as in appearance, and in the components of the planet themselves.

- This is the planet closest to the Sun and the smallest among the others. It weighs 20 times less than the Earth! But, despite this, it has a fairly high density, which allows us to conclude that there are a lot of metals in its depths. Due to its strong proximity to the Sun, Mercury is subject to sudden temperature changes: at night it is very cold, during the day the temperature rises sharply.

- This is the next planet closest to the Sun, in many ways similar to Earth. It has a more powerful atmosphere than Earth, and is considered a very hot planet (its temperature is above 500 C).

- This is a unique planet due to its hydrosphere, and the presence of life on it led to the appearance of oxygen in its atmosphere. Most of the surface is covered with water, and the rest is occupied by continents. A unique feature is the tectonic plates, which move, albeit very slowly, resulting in changes in the landscape. The Earth has one satellite - the Moon.

– also known as the “Red Planet”. It gets its fiery red color from a large amount of iron oxides. Mars has a very thin atmosphere and much lower atmospheric pressure compared to Earth. Mars has two satellites - Deimos and Phobos.

is a real giant among the planets of the solar system. Its weight is 2.5 times the weight of all the planets combined. The surface of the planet consists of helium and hydrogen and is in many ways similar to the sun. Therefore, it is not surprising that there is no life on this planet - there is no water and a solid surface. But Jupiter has a large number of satellites: 67 are currently known.

– This planet is famous for the presence of rings consisting of ice and dust revolving around the planet. With its atmosphere it resembles that of Jupiter, and in size it is slightly smaller than this giant planet. In terms of the number of satellites, Saturn is also slightly behind - it has 62 known. The largest satellite, Titan, is larger than Mercury.

- the lightest planet among the outer ones. Its atmosphere is the coldest in the entire system (minus 224 degrees), it has a magnetosphere and 27 satellites. Uranium consists of hydrogen and helium, and the presence of ammonia ice and methane has also been noted. Because Uranus has a high axial tilt, it appears as if the planet is rolling rather than rotating.

- despite its smaller size than , it is heavier and exceeds the mass of the Earth. This is the only planet that was found through mathematical calculations, and not through astronomical observations. The strongest winds in the solar system were recorded on this planet. Neptune has 14 moons, one of which, Triton, is the only one that rotates in the opposite direction.

It is very difficult to imagine the entire scale of the solar system within the limits of the studied planets. It seems to people that the Earth is a huge planet, and, in comparison with other celestial bodies, it is so. But if you place giant planets next to it, then the Earth already takes on tiny dimensions. Of course, next to the Sun, all celestial bodies appear small, so representing all the planets in their full scale is a difficult task.

The most famous classification of planets is their distance from the Sun. But a listing that takes into account the sizes of the planets of the Solar System in ascending order would also be correct. The list will be presented as follows:

As you can see, the order has not changed much: the inner planets are on the first lines, and Mercury occupies the first place, and the outer planets occupy the remaining positions. In fact, it doesn’t matter at all in what order the planets are located, this will not make them any less mysterious and beautiful.

Our own solar system appears too large, stretching more than 4 trillion miles from the sun. But it is just one of the billions of other stars that make up our Milky Way galaxy.

General characteristics of the planets of the solar system

A typical picture of the solar system is as follows: 9 planets revolve in their oval orbits around a constant, always blazing Sun.

But the characteristics of the planets of the solar system are much more complex and interesting. In addition to themselves, there are many of their satellites, as well as thousands of asteroids. Far beyond the orbit of Pluto, which has been classified as a dwarf planet, there are tens of thousands of comets and other frozen worlds. Tethered by gravity to the Sun, they orbit it over vast distances. The solar system is chaotic, constantly changing, sometimes even dramatically. Gravitational forces cause neighboring planets to influence each other, changing each other's orbits over time. Hard collisions with asteroids can give planets new tilt angles. The characteristics of the planets of the solar system are interesting in that they sometimes change climatic conditions, because their atmospheres develop and change.

A star called the Sun

As sad as it is to realize, the Sun is gradually using up its supply of nuclear fuel. In billions of years, it will expand to the size of a giant red star, swallowing the planets Mercury and Venus, while on Earth the temperature will rise to such an extent that the oceans will evaporate into space, and the Earth will become a dry rocky world, similar to today's Mercury. Having exhausted the entire supply of nuclear fusion, the Sun will shrink to the size of a white dwarf, and after millions of years, as a burnt-out shell, it will turn into a black dwarf. But 5 billion years ago the Sun and its 9 planets did not yet exist. There are many different versions of the appearance of the Sun as a protostar and its system in the clouds of cosmic gas and dust, but as a result of billions of years of nuclear fusion modern man watching him as he is now.

Along with the Earth and other planets, a star called the Sun was born approximately 4.6 billion years ago from a huge cloud of dust that rotated in space. Our star is a ball of glowing gases; if it were possible to weigh the Sun, the scales would show 1990,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg of matter consisting of helium and hydrogen.

Gravity force

Gravity, according to scientists, is the most mysterious mystery in the universe. This is the attraction of one matter to another and what gives the planets the shape of a ball. The Sun's gravity is powerful enough to hold 9 planets, a dozen moons and thousands of asteroids and comets. All this is held around the Sun by invisible threads of gravity. But as the distance between space objects increases, the attraction between them quickly weakens. The characteristics of the planets of the solar system directly depend on gravity. For example, the attraction between Pluto and the Sun is much less than the attraction between the Sun and Mercury or Venus. The Sun and Earth mutually attract each other, but due to the fact that the mass of the Sun is much greater, the attraction from its side is more powerful. A comparative description of the planets of the solar system will help to understand the main features of each of the planets.

The sun's rays travel in different directions in outer space, reaching all nine planets that orbit the sun. But depending on how distant the planet is, different amounts of light come to it, hence the different characteristics of the planets of the solar system.

Mercury

On Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, the Sun appears 3 times larger than the Earth's Sun. During the day it can be blindingly bright. But the sky is dark even during the day because IT has no atmosphere to reflect and scatter sunlight. When the Sun hits Mercury's rocky landscape, temperatures can reach up to 430 C. However, at night, all the heat returns freely to space, and the planet's surface temperature can drop to -173 C.

Venus

Characteristics of the planets of the solar system (grade 5 is studying this topic) leads to consideration of the planet closest to earthlings - Venus. Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is surrounded by an atmosphere that primarily consists of carbon dioxide gas. In such an atmosphere, clouds of sulfuric acid are constantly observed. Interestingly, despite the fact that Venus is further away from the Sun than Mercury, its surface temperature is higher and reaches 480 C. This is due to carbon dioxide, which creates a greenhouse effect and retains heat on the planet. Venus has a similar size and density to that of Earth, but the properties of its atmosphere are destructive for all living things. Chemical reactions in clouds produce acids that can dissolve lead, tin and stones. In addition, Venus is covered with thousands of volcanoes and rivers of lava that took millions of years to form. Near the surface, Venus' atmosphere is 50 times thicker than Earth's. Therefore, all objects penetrating through it explode before they even reach the surface. Scientists have discovered about 400 flat spots on Venus, each of which is from 29 to 48 km in diameter. These are the scars of meteorites that exploded above the surface of the planet.

Earth

The Earth, where we all live, has ideal atmospheric and temperature conditions for life, because our atmosphere consists mainly of nitrogen and oxygen. Scientists prove that the Earth rotates around the Sun, tilted on one side. Indeed, the position of the planet deviates from a right angle by 23.5 degrees. According to scientists, our planet received this tilt, as well as its size, after a powerful collision with a cosmic body. It is this tilt of the Earth that creates the seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn.

Mars

After Earth comes Mars. On Mars, the Sun appears three times smaller than from Earth. Only a third of the light, compared to what earthlings see, is received by Mars. In addition, hurricanes often occur on this planet, raising red dust from the surface. But, nevertheless, on summer days the temperature on Mars can reach 17 C, just like on Earth. Mars has a red tint because the iron oxide minerals in its soil reflect the reddish-orange light of the Sun, in other words, the Martian soil contains a lot of rusty iron, which is why Mars is often called the red planet. Martian air is very thin - 1 percent of the density of the Earth's atmosphere. The planet's atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide. Scientists admit that on this planet once, about 2 billion years ago, there were rivers and liquid water, and the atmosphere contained oxygen, because iron becomes rusty only when interacting with oxygen. It is possible that the atmosphere of Mars was once suitable for the emergence of life on this planet.

As for the chemical and physical parameters, the characteristics of the planets of the Solar System are shown below (table for the terrestrial planets).

As you can see, the chemical composition of the atmosphere of all three planets is very different.

This is a characteristic of the planets of the solar system. The table above clearly shows the ratio of various chemicals, as well as the pressure, temperature and presence of water on each of them, so it is now not difficult to get a general idea about this.

Giants of the Solar System

Beyond Mars are giant planets consisting mainly of gases. The physical characteristics of the planets of the solar system, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are interesting.

All giants are covered with thick clouds, and each subsequent one receives less and less light from the Sun. From Jupiter, the Sun looks like a fifth of what earthlings see. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Under thick clouds of ammonia and water, Jupiter is covered in an ocean of metallic liquid hydrogen. A special feature of the planet is the presence of a giant red spot on the clouds hanging over its equator. This is a giant storm almost 48,000 km long that has been orbiting the planet for more than 300 years. Saturn is the show planet in the solar system. On Saturn, sunlight is even weaker, but still has enough power to illuminate the planet's vast ring system. Thousands of rings, which are made mostly of ice, are illuminated by the Sun, turning them into giant circles of light.

The rings of Saturn have not yet been studied by earth scientists. According to some versions, they were formed as a result of a collision of its satellite with a comet or an asteroid and, under the influence of enormous gravity, turned into rings.

The planet Uranus is a cold world, which is located at a distance of 2.9 billion km from the main star. The average temperature of its atmosphere is -177 C. This is the planet with the greatest inclination and rotates around the Sun, lying on its side, and even in the opposite direction.

Pluto

The outermost planet 9, icy Pluto, glows with a distant, cold light and is 5.8 billion kilometers away, appearing as a bright star in the dark sky.

This planet is so small and so distant from Earth that scientists know very little about it. Its surface consists of nitrogen ice; in order to make one revolution around the Sun, it takes approximately 284 Earth years. The sun on this planet is no different from billions of other stars.

Complete characteristics of the planets of the solar system

The table (5th graders study this topic in some detail), located below, allows you not only to get an idea of ​​the planets of the solar system, but also makes it possible to compare them according to their main parameters.

As you can see, there is no planet similar to Earth in our Galaxy. The above characteristics of the planets of the solar system (table, grade 5) make it possible to understand this.

Conclusion

A brief description of the planets of the Solar System will allow readers to plunge a little into the world of space and remember that earthlings are so far the only intelligent beings among the vast Universe and the world around them must be constantly protected, preserved and restored.

Good afternoon dear friends.

Have you ever wondered what stars might look like compared to each other? Today I want to tell and show you how big space objects can reach. It is impossible to imagine how great the difference in the sizes of the planets is, you have to see it. After looking through a huge number of pictures, I came across an image comparing our Earth and the Sun, just look at how small our planet is. But the most interesting thing is that there are stars much larger than our Sun. Let's get a look.

• Mercury- is the smallest planet in the terrestrial group. The radius of Mercury is 2439.7 + 1.0 km. The planet's mass is 0.055 Earth's. Area 0.147 Earth.

• Mars- surpassed in size only by Mercury. The mass of the planet is equal to 10.7% of the mass of the Earth. The volume is equal to 0.15 of the Earth's volume.

• Venus- is closest to Earth in terms of its indicators. The orbital period is 224.7 Earth days. The volume is 0.857 Earth's. Mass - 0.815 Earth.

• Earth- fourth largest on the list after Mercury.

• Neptune- Neptune is 17.2 times more massive than Earth.

• Uranus- slightly larger than Neptune.

• Saturn- classified as a gas giant on a par with Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. Radius of the planet 57316 + 7 km. Weight: 5.6846 x 1026 kg.

• Jupiter- the largest planet in the solar system. Classified as a gas giant. Radius of the planet 69173 + 7 km. Weight - 1.8986 x 1027 kg.

• Wolf 359- the star is 2.4 parsecs or 7.80 light years away from the Solar System. A faint red dwarf that is not visible to the naked eye. The mass is 0.09-0.13 solar masses. Radius - 0.16-0.19 radius of the Sun.

• Sun- the only star in the solar system. The mass of the Sun is equal to 99.866% of the total mass of our solar system, exceeding the mass of the Earth by 333,000 times. The diameter of the Sun is 109 times the diameter of the Earth. Volume - 1,303,600 Earth volumes.

• Sirius- the brightest star in the night sky. Located in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius can be seen from any region of the Earth except the northernmost. Sirius is 8.6 light years from the solar system. Sirius is twice the size of our Sun.

• Pollux- the brightest star in the constellation Gemini. Star mass 1.7 + 0.4 solar masses. Radius - 8.0 solar masses.

• Arcturus- the brightest star in the constellation Bootes. If you look up into the night sky, the second brightest star will be Arcturus.

• Aldebaran- the brightest star in the constellation Taurus. Mass - 2.5 solar masses. Radius - 38 solar radii.

• Rigel- the brightest star in the constellation Orion, a blue-white supergiant. Rigel is located at a distance of 870 light years from our Sun. Rigel is 68 times larger than our Sun, and its luminosity is 85,000 times stronger than the Sun. Rigel is considered one of the most powerful stars in the galaxy. Mass is 17 solar masses, radius is 70 solar radii.

• Antares- the star is located in the constellation Scorpio and is considered the brightest in this constellation. Red supergiant. Distance 600 light years. The luminosity of Antares is 10,000 times stronger than the sun. The mass of the star is 15-18 solar masses. With such a large size and such a small mass, we can conclude that the density of the star is very low.

• Betelgeuse- a red supergiant in the constellation Orion. The approximate distance to the star is 500-600 light years. The diameter of the star is approximately 1000 times greater than the diameter of the Sun. Betelgeuse's mass is equal to 20 solar masses. The brightness of the star is 100,000 times greater than that of the sun.

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