Important Facts of Solar System and Universe
- “Light Year” and “Parsec” are the unit of- Distance
- 1 Light Year = 9.4607×1012 km
- 1 Parsec = 3.26 Light Years
- Nearest Star to earth- Alpha Centauri
- Cosmology is the branch of astronomy in which we study the origin and evolution of the universe.
- Our Sun belongs to the Milky Way Galaxy(Akash Ganga).
- Milky Way Galaxy is the Spiral type of galaxy.
- A Constellation is a group of stars that appears to form recognizable shapes or patterns.
- Stars have a light of their own. They are made up of vast clouds of gases like Helium, Hydrogen, etc.
- Protostar is a highly condensed cloud of gases like Hydrogen and Helium.
- A Black Hole is a region of space with a very strong gravitational field that even light cannot escape from its surface.
- Sun is the nearest star to the Earth at a distance of 149,597,870 km
- Sunlight takes approx 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach the Earth’s surface.
- The second nearest star to the Earth is Alpha Centauri.
- The photosphere is the glowing surface of the Sun.
- The chromosphere is the layer above the photosphere.
- The Corona is the outer atmosphere of the Sun. It is the aura of plasma that surrounds the Sun.
- Dark (absorption) lines in the spectrum of the Sun or other stars are known as Fraunhofer lines.
- The outwards emission of large, bright, gaseous features from the Sun is known as Prominence.
- The temperature of the core of the Sun is about 15 million degrees Celcius.
- The circumference of the moon is about 11000 km.
- Gravity on the moon’s surface is approx 1/6th of the Earth’s gravity.
- The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is about 384,400 km.
- In one revolution of Earth, the moon takes 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes.
- The moon doesn’t have a light of its own.
- The reflected light of the Sun from the Moon reaches the Earth in 1.3 seconds.
- Neil Armstrong landed on the moon on 21 July 1969.
- There is no atmosphere on the moon.
- Earth takes almost 365 days and 6 hours to complete an orbit of the Sun.
- Earth is also called the Blue Planet.
- Perihelion is the nearest position of the Earth in the orbit of the Sun- 3 January.
- Aphelion is the farthest position of the Earth in the orbit of the Sun- 4 July.
- The nearest planet to the Earth is Venus.
- The Earth revolves around the Sun at a speed of 29.8 km/s.
- The Earth completes a revolution along its axis in around 24 hours( 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds).
- Tides are the rise and fall of levels of sea levels.
- Tides are occurred due to the effect of Gravitational Forces exerted by the Moon and the rotational force of the Earth.
- The eight planets of our solar system are:
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto is considered a Dwarf Planet.
- The 5 Dwarf Planets of our solar systems are:
- Pluto
- Ceres
- Eris
- Makemake
- Haumea
- Increasing order of Planet’s distance from the Sun:
- Mercury => Venus => Earth => Mars => Jupiter => Saturn => Uranus => Neptune
- Increasing order of Planet’s diameter from the Sun:
- Mercury => Mars => Venus => Earth => Neptune => Uranus => Saturn => Jupiter
- Saturn has maximum number of satellites.
- Venus has the same period of rotation and revolution.
- Earth and Mars have almost the same rotation time along their axis. Mars rotation time along its axis is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds.
- Earth rotates eastward around its axis.
- Jupiter is the biggest planet.
- Venus is the brightest planet.
- Mars is also known as the Red Planet.
- Venus rotates from East to West.
- Venus is also called Earth’s twin.
- Venus is also known as the Morning and Evening star.
- Uranus rotates from North to South.
- Saturn and Uranus are known as the planets with rings.
- The planet revolves around the Sun in an Anti-clockwise direction.
- Venus is the nearest planet to Earth.
- Venus is the hottest planet.
- Satellite of the Mars:
- Phobos
- Deimos
- IDL: It stands for International Date Line
- IDL is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth that runs from the north pole to the south pole.
Important Facts:
- There are 8 planets in our solar system.
- Planets are revolving around Sun in elliptical orbits.
- Sun rays take approx 8 minutes 16 seconds to reach the Earth.
- The name of our galaxy is Milky Way.
- Pluto is a dwarf planet.
- The nearest planet to the Sun is Mercury.
- The farthest planet to the Sun is Neptune.
- The smallest planet among all the eight planets in our solar system is Mercury.
- The largest planet among all the eight planets in our solar system is Jupiter.
- Saturn is the second-largest planet in our solar system.
- Uranus is the third-largest planet in our solar system.
- The aura of plasma that surrounds the sun is called CORONA.
- Major gases that the sun contains are Hydrogen and Helium.
- Major gases that the sun contains are Hydrogen and Helium.
Mercury:
- The closest planet to the Sun.
- Orbits the Sun quickest.
- No significant Atmosphere.
- No natural satellites.
Venus:
- Hottest planet.
- Known as Earth’s Twin.
- Longest rotation period.
- The dense atmosphere of gases.
- Revolves around the Sun from East to West.
- Only Venus and Uranus rotate from East to West.
- It is also known as the ‘Morning Star’ and ‘Evening Star.
- No natural satellite.
Earth:
- Earth’s atmosphere contains Nitrogen(78%), Oxygen(21%), Carbon-Di-Oxide, Argon, etc. gases.
- Earth takes approx 24 hours to rotate on its own axis.