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…

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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.…

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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…

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Jupiter

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…

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Between tiny Mars and humongous Jupiter, lies a band of objects known as Asteroid Belt. This belt of ‘minor planets’ was supposed to be a planet but Jupiter’s gravity didn’t let that happen. So, it ended up as Sun‘s own ring system made up of asteroids and a dwarf planet. Here are some interesting facts about the Asteroid Belt:   The Asteroid Belt is also termed the ‘Main Asteroid Belt’ or ‘Main Belt’ to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near-Earth asteroids and Trojan Asteroids   Collisions became too violent and instead of fusing together, the Planetesimals and most of the Protoplanets shattered and formed the Asteroid Belt Appendix: Accrete, Primordial   Computer simulations suggest that the original Asteroid Belt may have contained the mass equivalent to the Earth   Although some scientists refer to the asteroids as residual Planetesimals, other scientists consider them…

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The Mars: 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)…

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The Earth

Earth ( ⊕ , पृथ्वी ), our very own blue planet is the only known celestial body known to have life. Call it the act of god or a series of favourable circumstances, our planet managed to hit the perfect balance. This balance took billions of years but in the end, we got our miracle planet. Here are some interesting facts about our home planet Earth:   The age of Earth is deduced on the basis of radiometric dating and other sources of evidence   Like all other astronomical objects in the universe, Earth was formed by Accretion Appendix: Primordial   The material that was in orbit around the Earth quickly coalesced into the Moon, possibly within less than a month, but in no more than a century. Some of Theia’s mass merged with Earth   The first atmosphere was captured from the solar nebula. A combination of the solar…

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The Venus

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…

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Mercury

Mercury ( ☿ , बुध ), the closest planet to the Sun is the one which faces its maximum fury. This tiny piece of rock has its own fascinating features. Here are some interesting facts about the mighty Mercury:   Both moons individually only have a mass equal to 40% of Mercury   The Roman god Mercury serves as the guide of souls to the underworld   An observer on Mercury would see only one day every two Mercurian years   The polar region is constantly below -93° C   Mercury is too small and hot for its gravity to retain any significant atmosphere over long periods of time Appendix: Exosphere   This Exosphere contains Hydrogen, Helium, Oxygen, Sodium, Calcium, Potassium and others.   Mercury’s gravity is double that of our Moon   Mercury’s magnetic field is much weaker than Earth‘s magnetic field. It is still strong enough to deflect…

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Tonight, India is going to add another glorious page in its history. Chandrayaan 2, India’s second Moon mission and first spacecraft to try soft-landing on any celestial body will try its Moon landing. This is ISRO’s (Indian Space Research Organisation) first such attempt. We don’t know what the result will be but all Indian citizens will be on the edge of their seats tonight. Here are some interesting facts about Chandrayaan 2:   The main scientific objective is to map the location and abundance of lunar water If successful, Chandrayaan-2 will be the southernmost lunar landing, aiming to land at 67°S or 70°S latitude   History ISRO would have the prime responsibility for the orbiter and rover, while Roscosmos was to provide the lander   The design of the spacecraft was completed in August 2009, with scientists of both countries conducting a joint review   Fobos-Grunt mission was launched on…

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