Saturn, even though it is the sixth planet form the Sun, it shines so brightly because of its size. Its diameter is seventy-one thousand five hundred miles. The planet itself is golden in color and is the brightest yellow star in the night sky.
Saturn makes one complete revolution on its axis every ten hours and takes twenty-nine and one half days to complete one orbit around the Sun. The gravitational pull of this planet is most like that of Jupiter. It has a volume that is eight hundred times that of earth, but has a volume that is one hundred times lighter than earth.
Saturn has two rings that surround the planet, but never touch it. They are located outside the atmosphere and above the equator. These rings are only about ten miles thick, which makes them transparent, only being seen with the use of a telescope. The ring closest to the planet is about seven thousand miles and very thin. A black band separates the inner ring from the outer ring, which is wider and brighter. It is believed that the rings are made up of crystals of ice or dust particles.
Uranus is the seventh planet form the Sun. The name Uranus comes from Greek mythology. Uranus was the ¨God of the Heavens.〃
Uranus is situated one thousand seven hundred and eighty two miles form the Sun and completes one orbit around the Sun every eighty-four years. The size of this planet is four times that of earth, but has the same force of gravity on the surface as earth. There are five moons that orbit this planet. The largest one is Titania.
Neptune, the eighth planet from the Sun, is invisible to the naked eye. It is located some two thousand seven hundred and ninety-three million miles form the Sun. A single orbit around the Sun takes one hundred and sixty-five yeas to complete. This planet only receives one nine-hundredth of the heat and Sunlight as the earth.
Pluto was the ninth planet from the Sun. The name Pluto comes from the Roman God who was the ruler of the under world. On Thursday, August 24, 2006, however, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) met in Prague voted finalizing the guidelines of planetary classification, thus reorganizing Pluto into a new category of “dwarf planet”.
Pluto is located three thousand six hundred and seventy million miles form the Sun. It orbits the Sun in total darkness, and is about the same size as Mars and has a diameter two thirds that of Earth’s moon. Due to the distance and size of Pluto, it can only be seen with the use of a twenty-inch telescope.
Pluto disqualified due to its eccentric orbit that crosses with Neptune. In addition to the fact that it is disproportionately smaller than any of its former counterparts in the solar system, it does not qualify as a planet. Otherwise, we might as well qualify Pluto’s moon, Charon as a planet, thus making Pluto and Charon a binary planet system.
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