15 Facts about Pluto: The Demoted Dwarf
Pluto ( ♇ , प्लूटो ) was once a planet but thanks to the discovery of Eris, it was demoted to the status of a dwarf planet. This tiny ball in space was just recently pictured from a short distance for the first time. This Flyby mission revealed many characteristics of this demoted planet. Here are some interesting facts about the ex-planet with a heart, Pluto: Pluto is the largest known Plutoid Tombaugh’s task was to systematically image the night sky in pairs of photographs, then examine each pair and determine whether any objects had shifted position. After the observatory obtained confirmatory photographs, news of the discovery was telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory on March 13, 1930 The final choice of name was helped in part by the fact that the first two letters of Pluto. These are the initials of Percival Lowell, a wealthy Bostonian…
15 Facts about Uranus: The Icy Misfit
Uranus ( ⛢ , अरुण ) is the Solar System‘s weirdo. Let it be its featureless look, mysteriously low temperature or excessive tilt, it is unlike any other planet. This far from home icy planet has its own amazing set of quirks. Here are some interesting facts about Uranus, the icy misfit: Uranus is the Latinized version of Ouranos Sir William Herschel announced its discovery on 13th March 1781, but he assumed it was a comet. By 1783, he acknowledges that his discovery is, in fact, a planet Appendix: Classical Planets The interior of Uranus is mainly composed of ices and rock. Uranus and Neptune are known as the Ice Giants This could be because of the low heat generated by the planet Neptune, which is Uranus’ near twin in size and composition, radiates 2.61 times as much energy into space as it receives from the Sun.…
15 Facts about Saturn: The Crowned Giant
Saturn ( ♄ , शनि ) can be deemed as the most royal planet of the Solar System. With a huge set of rings, the distinctive look of Saturn makes it the most talked-about planet. This fascinating planet is even more interesting from the close. Here are some interesting facts about Saturn, the one with the rings: Saturn has only one-eighth of the average density of Earth Saturn’s astronomical symbol (♄) represents the god’s sickle An apparent oddity is that it does not have any known Trojan Asteroids. Trojans have been discovered for Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune Appendix: AU The equatorial diameter of Saturn is 11,808 km longer than the diameter measured through the poles while the diameter of Earth is only 12,742 km The outermost layer of Saturn spans 1,000 km and consists of gas Appendix: Metallic Hydrogen Saturn’s finer cloud…
15 Facts about Jupiter: The King of the Gods
Jupiter (♃ , बृहस्पति) is the giant of our Solar System. Not only Jupiter is very huge, its gravitational force also helped in sculpting the structure of the Solar system, as we see today. First of the giant planets, Jupiter is a mammoth ball of gas with many striking features. Here are some interesting facts about Jupiter, the giant of the giants: Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System Roman god Jupiter is also called Jove which is the reason behind the name Jovian planets. ‘Jovian planets’ is the other term used for ‘Giant planets’ Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is about 88–92% Hydrogen and 8–12% Helium by percent volume of gas molecules Jupiter’s rotation is the fastest of all the Solar System‘s planets But like the other giant planets, Jupiter lacks a well-defined solid surface Astronomers have…
15 Facts about Mars: The Next Destination
Mars ( ♂︎ , मंगल ), the fourth planet of the Solar System can be called the most behaved planet after Earth. Unlike extreme conditions on Mercury and Venus and unavailability of a solid surface on the giant planets, Mars is the only nearby place we can think of having a colony. It sounds nice but in reality, Mars is still a very hostile planet. A colony may be a dream of far future but we may soon have few humans there. Here are some interesting facts about our friendly neighbour Mars: The Greeks named this planet as Ares, the Greek God of War. Then, Roman changed the name of the planet as their God of War: Mars Mars is the second smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury The Maps by Christiaan Huygens contain terrain features of Mars The rotation on Axis (Solar Day)…
15 Facts about Venus: The Burning Queen
Venus ( ♀︎, शुक्र ), the only planet of our Solar System regarded as a female is the evil twin sister of our planet. This shiny morning star is a hell with a raging temperature, crushing pressure and acidic clouds. Venus is a perfect example to show what the greenhouse effect can do to a planet. Here are some interesting facts about the gruesome Venus: The two continents on the planet are also named after women. The Northern continent Ishtar Terra is named after the Babylonian goddess of love and southern continent Aphrodite Terra is named after the Greek goddess of love Due to its reverse rotation, Sun rises in the west and sets in the East The diameter of Venus is only 638.4 km less than Earth‘s and its mass is 81.5% of that of Earth’s mass This results in reduced heat loss from the…