User:Daniyal321/sandbox

This website is an overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of the planets, moons and other objects in our solar system. Each page has our text and NASA's images, some have sounds and movies, most provide references to additional related information. In association with our friends at Solar System Scope we now have an interactive tour of the solar system (takes a while to load and opens in a new window)

All eight planets can be seen with a small telescope; or binoculars. And large observatories continue to provide much useful information. But the possibility of getting up close with interplanetary spacecraft has revolutionized planetary science. Very little of this site would have been possible without the space program.

Nevertheless, there's a lot that you can see with very modest equipment or even with just your own eyes. Past generations of people found beauty and a sense of wonder contemplating the night sky. Today's scientific knowledge further enhances and deepens that experience. And you can share in it by simply going out in the evening and looking up.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . The IAU has changed the definition of "planet" so that Pluto no longer qualifies. There are now officially only eight planets in our solar system. Of course this change in terminology does not affect what's actually out there. In the end, it's not very important how we classify the various objects in our solar system. What is important is to learn about their physical nature and their histories.

A planet is a large space object which revolves around a star. It also reflects that star's light. Eight planets have been discovered in our solar system. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the planets closest to the Sun. They are called the inner planets. The inner planets are made up mostly of rock. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are large balls of gases with rings around them. All eight planets travel around the Sun in a different orbit. In its orbit, there are not many other objects like the planet.

Dwarf planets are objects that are similar to planets except that they orbit the Sun in areas where there are many similar objects.

The Inner Planets	The Outer Planets	Dwarf Planets Mercury	Jupiter	Pluto Venus	Saturn	Ceres Earth	Uranus	Eris Mars	Neptune	Haumea Makemake Show me the Level 2 version of this page.

Return to the StarChild Main Page Go to Imagine the Universe! (A site for ages 14 and up.) The StarChild site is a service of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), Dr. Alan Smale (Director), within the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA/ GSFC.

StarChild Authors: The StarChild Team StarChild Graphics & Music: Acknowledgments StarChild Project Leader: Dr. Laura A. Whitlock Curator:Meredith Gibb Responsible NASA Official:Phil Newman If you have comments or questions about the StarChild site, please send them to us.