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Universe & Solar System

Points of Discussion
• Evolution of the universe
• Galaxies
• Nebula
• Black Hole
• Constellation
• Stars
• Solar System
• Planets
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● The Universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies
and all other forms of matter and Energy.
● Evolution of Universe: There are three main theories put forward to explain the origin
and evolution of the Universe are: -
● The Big Bang Theory: In 1916, Einstein published his theory of general relativity with this
he also proposed a theoretical model of the Universe which was not expanding.
● 1922 Russian cosmologist Alexander Friedman developed what is known as the Friedman
equations which were derived from Einstein equations for general relativity: contrary to
Einstein was advocating at the time with his cosmological constant.
Friedman work showed that the Universe was likely in a state of expansion.
● 1924, Edwin Hubble's measurement of the great distance to the nearest spiral nebulae
showed that these systems were indeed other galaxies.
● 1927, Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian physicist and Roman Catholic Priest independently
derived the same result as Friedman Equations and proposed that the inferred recession
Galaxies was due to the expansion of the Universe.
● 1929, Hubble discovered a correlation between distance and decussation velocity, which
is known as the Hubble law.
● 1931, Georges Lemaitre was suggesting that the current expansion of the Universe meant
that the farther back in time, one went, the smaller the universe would be.
At some point in the past, he argued, the entire mass of the Universe would have been
concentrated into a single point from which the very fabric of space and time originated.
● 1949, Fred Hoyle coined the phrase "Big Bang" for Lemaitre Hypothesis.
● 1965: The discovery and confirmation of the cosmic microwave background Radiation
(M.B.R) practically supported the Big Bang theory.
● 1981, Physicist Alan bath theorized of a period of rapid cosmic expansion that resolved
other theoretical problems.
● 1990, the discovery of the rise of Dark energy resolves many issues of Big Bang theory.
● Some other experiments also supported the Big Bang theory.
(1) Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)
(2) Hubble Space Telescope
(3) Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)
(4) Planck observatory
(5) Large Hedron collider experiment (LHC)
● According to Big Bang theory at starting the whole mass of the Universe concentrated in
an extremely dense and hot fireball like structure 13.7 billion years ago, it exploded (Big
Bang). The matter was broken into pieces, which were thrown out with high speed in all
directions forming stars and galaxies which are still moving away from one another.
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GALAXIES
• A galaxy is a gravitationally bound system of stars, Planets, Satellites, stellar remnants,
interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter.
• The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias, literally "milky", a reference to the
Milky Way.
• Galaxies range in size from dwarfs with just a few hundred million stars to giants with
one hundred trillion stars, each orbiting its galaxy's center of mass.
• Galaxies are categorized according to their visual morphology as elliptical, spiral, or
irregular. Many galaxies are thought to have supermassive black holes at their centers.
• The Milky Way's central black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, has a mass four million
times greater than the Sun.
• The observable universe contains about 100 billion of galaxies
• The Milky Way is one such galaxy to which our solar system (and consequently our
earth) belongs.
• The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System, with the name describing
the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed
from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye.
• The term Milky Way is a translation of the Latin via lactea, from the Greek γαλαξίας
κύκλος (galaxías kýklos, "milky circle"). From Earth, the Milky Way appears as a band
because its disk-shaped structure is viewed from within.
• In India, it is popularly known as Akashganga which means white river of light in the sky.
• The Milky Way has approximately 150,000 million stars in all.
• These are distributed quite unevenly. The largest and the brightest stars-super giants-
show a tendency to concentrate near the Galaxy's plane.
• The same is true of a layer of cosmic dust and interstellar gas, whose thickenings appear
as nebulae.
• Even in the plane of the Galaxy, the main mass of the stars is located at its center and
number diminishes towards its edges
• The shape of this galaxy roughly resembles a lentil or a thin lens, the thicker and
brighter nucleus lying in the centre. The disk of the Milky Way has a diameter of nearly
100,000 light years and a thickness
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Milky Way
• All the stars, including the Sun, revolve around the Galaxy's centre along different orbits
and at different speeds.
• Sun is an ordinary star and many other stars are much bigger than our Sun.
• But it looks very large and bright as compared to other stars due its proximity to the
earth.
• Light takes only 8 minutes and 22 seconds to reach the Earth from the Sun.
• The nearest star, next to the Sun, is Proxima Centauri which is 4.3 light years away from
the Earth.
• Some other stars are millions of light years away from the Earth.
• The Sun is a bit more than 25,000 light years away from the centre of the Milky Way.

Our Neighbours
• The galaxy closest to our Milky Way is Andromeda.
• If we see Andromeda with the help of a telescope, it will appear as a shinning cloud of
gas.
• A powerful telescope shows several stars distinctly.
• Andromeda is at a distance of about two million light years from the earth.
• The Hubble Space Telescope had in 2006 discovered about 500 galaxies that existed less
than a thousand million years after the Big Bang.

Nebula
● It is a Latin word which means mist or cloud. Nebulae are not only massive clouds of dust,
hydrogen and helium gas and plasma: they are also often Steller nurseries – i.e., the place
where stars are born.
A Nebula is formed when a portion of the interstellar medium undergo gravitational
collapse. Mutual gravitational attraction causes matter to clump together, forming region
of greater density. Its ultraviolet ionizing radiation causes the surrounding gas to become
visible at optical wavelength.
● Orion sward is nebulae of our galaxy. Nebula divided into four categories: (a) Diffuse
Nebulae (b) Dark Nebulae (c) supernova Remnant Nebulae (d) Planetary Nebulae
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Quasars
● Quasi-stellar radio sources or Quasars was discovered in 1960 by Allan standage. Quasars
are among the brightest and most distant known celestial objects and crucial to
understanding the early Universe. Quasars live only in galaxies with supermassive Black
holes.

Black Holes
These are infinitely dense points in space with deep gravity sinks so that not even light can escape
the powerful tug of its gravity. Therefore, it is also known as the cosmic vacuum cleaner.
● Anything that ventures too close will be stretched and compressed like putty in a
theoretical process aptly known as spaghettification.

Constellation
A constellation is a group of stars that forms definite imaginary outline or pattern on the celestial
sphere.
● 89 constellations known in our galaxy.
● Hydra is the largest constellation according to the area and smallest constellation
according to number of stars (68 stars)
● The crux is the smallest constellation according to the area.
● Centaurus is the largest constellation, according to the number of stars. (92 stars)
● Most popular constellation is Ursa major which lies in the northern sky. In Latin, it is also
known as the Great Bear or the larger Bear. In Indian mythology, it is known as Saptrishi.

Pole star
In the northern hemisphere, it is also known as the north star. It is the brightest star that appears
nearest to either celestial at a particular time.
● At present, the pole star is Polaris (α Ursa minoris)
● 2700 BCE Theban (α Draconis) is our pole star.
● 1400 CE Vega become our pole star.
● The present southern pole star is Polaris Australis (α octant is).

Stars
Stars are big exploding balls of gas, mainly Hydrogen and helium; which secretes a huge amount
of energy.
● Sun is the nearest Star of Earth.
● Proxima Centauri is the nearest Star of Sun
● Star colour is linked to temperature
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Life cycles of stars

A star’s life cycle is determined by its mass. The larger it mass, the shorter its life cycle.
● Molecular Star: Stars start out as vast clouds of cold molecular gas. The gas cloud could
be floating near a galaxy for millions of years, but then some event causes it to begin
collapsing under its own gravity. For example, when galaxies collide, regions of cold gas
are given the kick they need to start collapsing. As it collapses, the interstellar clouds
break up into smaller and smaller pieces, and each one of these collapses inward on itself.
Each of these pieces will become a star.
● Proto star: As the Steller material pulls tighter and tighter together, it heats up pushing
again further gravitational collapse. At this point, the object is known as Proto star.
● T Tauri star: At Tauri star begins when material stop falling into the
● protester and it is releasing a tremendous amount of energy. The T Tauri phase lost for
about 100 million years.
● Main sequence: It starts when the core temperature of a star will reach the point that
fusion its core can begin (Exothermic reaction).
● Red Giant: When a star exhausts its fuel of Hydrogen at its core, its internal nuclear
reactions stop. Now star begins to contract inward through gravity. This process heats up
a shell of Hydrogen around the core which then ignites in fusion and causes the star to
brighten up again. This causes the outer layers of the star to expand outwards, increasing
the size of the star many times. The temperature and pressure at the core of the star will
eventually reach the point that helium can be fused into carbon and known as red Giant/
dwarf.
● White dwarf: The Star will eject its outer layers into space and then contract down,
eventually becoming a white dwarf.
● Supernova: It is a giant dying Star of high mass that has come to the end of its life by a
spectacular explosion.
● Neutron star: It is the incredibly compact core that remains after a supernova explosion.

Solar system
● Solar system is a family of heavenly bodies such as planets, satellites, comets, asteroids,
meteoroids, etc. headed by a star (Sun).
● It is estimated that there are millions of solar systems in the universe. Our solar system is
an orderly community of our Sun, eight planets, satellites, thousands of miniature planets,
asteroids and billions of meteoroids and comets along with interplanetary dust and
electrically charged gas called plasma.
● All the members of the solar system are controlled by the immense gravitational pull of
the Sun and revolve around this central body almost in the same plane and in the same
direction along the near circular or elliptical orbits.
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● This is how the system derives its connotation-the solar system. The exact estimate of the
age of the solar system still eludes us, but it is believed that the Sun and its solar system
was born about 4.6 billion years ago
● Some scientists put the age of the Sun as five billion years. But there is general agreement
that the Sun was born from the cloud of the gas of our galaxy. Planets were born from
the Sun much after its own birth.

The Sun

● Sun important for us because the entire life on the earth depends upon the energy released
by the Sun. All members of the solar system pay their tribute to the master Sun and revolve
around it.
● The Sun is a huge sphere of hot gaseous mass having a diameter of about 1,392,000
kilometres. About 109 Earths could fit side by side across the diameter of the Sun.
● The Sun accounts for 998 per cent of the total mass of the solar system. It would require about
333 000 Earth to equal Sun's mass.
● The surface area and the volume of the Sun are nearly 12,000 times and 1300000 times
respectively as large as that of the Earth.
● The Sun has 28 times more gravitational pull than the Earth. This means that anything
weighing 1 kg on the earth would weigh 28 kg. on the Sun.
● The surface temperature of the Sun is about 6000"C which rises to about 20.000,000°C at its
centre. Under such high temperature conditions, hydrogen particles collide and fuse to
produce helium particles. It produces enormous amount of energy.
● Hence the Sun will continue to supply energy to the Earth for five billion more years even
though the Sun is using a lot of hydrogen to produce energy.
● Each second about 700 million tons of hydrogen is converted to about 695 million tonnes of
helium and 5 million tonnes of energy in the form of gamma rays. About 70 elements have
been discovered in the Sun's atmosphere, the most important of which are hydrogen, helium,
oxygen, carbon and nitrogen, i.e. the lightest elements.
● Hydrogen and helium are the elements which account for 70% and most important 28% of the
Sun's mass, in addition, the presence of very simple molecules and chemical radicals has been
established.

Solar Atmosphere
• The structure of the solar atmosphere is divided into three shells or envelopes. They are
in the photosphere.
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• (i) the chromosphere, and in the corona. The photosphere i.e. the sphere of light is the
visible yellow surface of the Sun and is about 500 km deep. Thus, it constitutes the
innermost layer of the solar atmosphere.
• The photosphere gases have a temperature of about 5.500°C. The chromosphere extends
upto a height of about 15,000 km. It is called so because of its reddish colour due to
emission by hydrogen. Great clouds of gas-prominences-hang over the chromosphere,
held by magnetic field.
• The average prominence floats at such a height over the surface of the chromosphere
that earth could freely pass under it. With a mean thickness equal to the diameter of the
Earth, a length of 20,000 km and a height of 50,000 km, a prominence has a volume 100
times that of the earth.
• The third layer-the Corona or the Crown-begins about 2,500 km above the surface and
stretches out beyond the surface of the earth. But Corona shape changes from time to
time. It consists of very thin gases and is visible only when the Sun is totally eclipsed.

Sun’s Interior
• The Sun's interior has three distinct parts. The innermost part is called core and accounts
for about one-third of the Sun.
• It has a very high temperature of 15 million degrees Celsius and a very high specific gravity
of 100.
• The most important feature of the core is that the thermonuclear reactions take place
and generate both heat and light.
• Next to the core, towards the surface is the radiation zone. It has a temperature of about
2.5 million degrees Celsius and accounts for another one-third of the Sun's interior.
• The outermost layer of the Sun's interior is the convective zone which has an average
temperature of 1.1 million degrees Celsius.

Sunspots
• Galileo observed through his telescope that the Sun has some relatively cool
(temperature about 4000°C) and dark areas known as Sunspots.
• A sunspot usually consists of a nuclear or 'umbra" surrounded by a brighter "penumbra"
of apparently filamentary structure with traces of vorticity around the centre of the spot.
• The number of Sunspots and the area they occupy change periodically, although not very
regularly, with a period of eleven years. In a year minimum, not a single spot may appear
on the Sun for months, but in a year of maximum, as many as hundred Sunspots may be
seen.
• This period of maxima and minima is known as sunspot cycle or solar cycle.
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Planets
● According to the International Astronomical Union Summit 2006; a planet is a celestial body
that–
(1) Is in orbit around any star
(2) Having area at least 3000 km2
(3) Got their energy and light from that star.
(4) Has sufficient mass for itself gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a
hydrostatic equilibrium shape (Nearly round)
(5) Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit

● In our solar system, the total number of planets is 8, which is divided into two categories: –

Terrestrial vs Jovian Planets

• The first four planets, known as inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) have
dense material with rocky hard structure.
• These are also known as terrestrial planets because of their Earth like qualities.
• The outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) are made up of lighter material
Sun, consisting of gases. They are called Jovian or Gas Giant planets.
• Jovian means Jupiter like. The Jovian planets are much bigger in size than the terrestrial
planets and have thick atmosphere, mostly of helium and hydrogen.
• These two groups of planets are separated from each other by a belt of asteroids.
• According to their distance from the Sun, the planets of the solar system are Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

● Planets which orbit other stars (not the Sun) are called exoplanets.

1. Mercury
• Mercury Placed at an average distance of 57.9 million kilometres, Mercury is the closest
to the Sun.
• With an equatorial diameter of 4,875 kilometres, Mercury is also the smallest of all the
planets. It revolves around the Sun in an elliptical orbit in 88 days.
• With an average orbital speed of 48 kilometres per second, Mercury is the fastest
revolving planet of the solar system.
• However, it rotates rather sluggishly and completes one rotation around its axis in 58.65
da This means that every time Mercury makes two revolutions around the Sun, it has
made exactly three rotations on its axis.
• It has a very high density of 5 46 which is next only to that of the Earth. Mercury is 2.5
times closer to the Sun than the Earth, and thus receives 6 times more solar heat.
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• With very rare and thin atmosphere and its proximity to the Sun, the temperature
conditions show freezer-to furnace extremes in a single day (equal to 58.65 days at the
Earth).
• It is at a very low of -183°C before dawn, 27°C mid-morning, soars to 430°C in the early
afternoon, falls to -23°C at sunset and dips further to -180°C at night.
• Thus it is the hottest and also one of the coldest planet of the solar system. Mercury's
temperature is also affected by the ellipticity of its orbital path.
• Mercury's orbit is more elliptical than the path of any other planet of the solar system.
Mercury swoops to within 46 million km of the Sun, then slows down as it swing out to
some 70 million km away.
• When at perihelion (nearest to the Sun). Mercury crosses the disk of the Sun and is said
to be in transit.
• However, the transit occurs rarely because the plane of Mercury's orbit is inclined to the
plane of the Earth's orbit at an angle of 7°. Its axial tilt is zero as a result of which Mercury
has absolutely no seasonal changes. From the Earth, Mercury can be be seen in the
northern hemisphere about 2 hours before Sun rise in the east and is known as morning
star.
• Mercury is 2.5 times closer to the Sun than the Earth, and thus receives 6 times more
solar heat.
• With very rare and thin atmosphere and its proximity to the Sun, the temperature
conditions show freezer-to furnace extremes in a single day (equal to 58.65 days at the
Earth).
• It is at a very low of -183°C before dawn, 27°C mid-morning, soars to 430°C in the early
afternoon, falls to -23°C at sunset and dips further to -180°C at night.
• Thus it is the hottest and also one of the coldest planet of the solar system.

2. Venus
• Second from the Sun, Venus traces an orbit that is closer to a perfect circle than that of
any other planet of the solar system. It is often called Earth's twin because it is greatly
similar to earth with respect to size, mass, density, surface gravity and average orbital
speed.
• It is the brightest object in the sky, except for the Sun and the Moon. It can appear ten
times brighter than Mercury. It looks very beautiful in the sky and has been named so
after the Roman goddess of beauty and love.
• It is a unique planet in the sense that its rotation is retrograde, or "backward". In other
words, it rotates in a direction opposite to that of the other planets as a result of which
the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east.
• Another unique thing about this planet is that its day (equal to 243 Earth days) is longer
than its year which is equal to only 224.7 Earth days. This is due to the fact that its rotation
is slower than its revolution.
• An observer at the Earth's surface can see this planet either in the western sky after
sunset or in the eastern sky before dawn. Sometimes we can even spot Venus during the
day provided we know exactly where and when to look for it. Venus's axial inclination is
very small, and so it has practically no seasons.
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• Venus has a thick atmosphere consisting mainly of carbon dioxide (97 per cent) nitrogen
(2 per cent) and very little oxygen (0.1 per cent). It is covered by dense layer of clouds
consisting of water vapour.
• The atmospheric pressure is 90 times the atmospheric pressure at the Earth. No space
probe that has gone into the planet's atmosphere has survived for long.
• The temperature of the Venusian atmosphere varies with height. At the Venusian surface,
the temperature may be as high as 480°C but drops to -100°C as we reach a height of 100
km. It again starts rising and is about 380°C at height varying from 250 to 300 km. Being
closer to the Sun, Venus receives nearly twice as much heat from the sun as earth. The
strange thing about Venus's temperature is that the temperature remains virtually the
same on day and night sides, and even at poles and equator. Like temperature, the winds
of Venus also change their speed. Upper clouds whip at 360 kilometres per hour while at
the surface, it is a slow breeze. The rays of light is refracted through the dense atmosphere
and at the surface of Venus, we would see the Sun bent all out of shape, greatly flattened
and stretched out along the horizon.

3. Earth
• The Earth is the third planet from the Sun. This is the planet we know the best because
we live on it. The Earth has a unique distinction of possessing an atmosphere which
sustains life. This is so because the Earth stays within a region of tolerance called the
Ecosphere/Goldilocks. In this safety zone which roughly extends from the orbit of Venus
to that of Mars, that the temperatures never get too high or too low to support life.
• Moreover, there is plenty of water which covers about 71 per cent of its total surface
area. Water is very essential for all sorts of life on the Earth. Due to abundance of water,
the Earth is often referred to as the watery planet. When seen from the outer space, it
looks blue and is also called 'blue planet'. The earth revolves around the sun along an
elliptical path with an average speed of 30 km per second and completes one revolution
in 365.26 days.
• It completes one rotation on its axis in 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds. The mean distance
of the earth from the sun is about 149.6 million km which increases to 152 million km at
time of aphelion and decreases to 147.3 million km at the time of perihelion.
• With the equatorial diameter of 12,756 km, the earth is the fifth largest planet of the
solar system. It has an average density of 5.52 making it the densest planet of the solar
system.
• Its axis of rotation is tilled at an angle of 23.5° on the orbital plane due to which there is
change of seasons and seasonal variation in the duration of day. The earth's magnetic
field saves us from the solar wind which carries deadly electrically charged particles as it
streams outward from the sun.
• The Earth has one satellite known as Moon. This is our nearest neighbor in the space and
as such we have better knowledge of the Moon than that of any other heavenly body.
The average distance of the Moon from the earth is 384,400 km. Moon's diameter is four
times smaller than the Earth's diameter and 81 times in mass and its gravitational pull is
six times weaker.
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• The Moon completes one rotation on its axis in 273 days and it takes the same time for
completing one revolution around the Earth. Consequently, the Moon always keeps the
same side facing toward the Earth and the other half of it is always hidden from us.
• Due to near absence of the atmosphere and excessively small thermal conductivity of
lunar rocks the temperature rises to 125°C during the lunar day at its equator and falls to
-150°C at night.
• During a lunar eclipse the temperature drops by 225°C in just an hour. About 85 per cent
of the surface area of the Moon is covered by highlands and only 15 per cent is plain area.
• The mountains are simply debris encircling craters. Lunar craters come in an infinite
variety of sizes. The smaller the size of the craters, more numerous they are.

4. Mars
• Mars Next to the Earth is Mars. It is about half of the size of the Earth and is about 15
times away from the Sun than the Earth. Therefore, it receives about half as much heat
from the Sun than the Earth.
• It completes its orbit about the Sun in 687 days and spins on its axis in 24 hours 37 minutes
(just 41 minutes more than the Earth's rotation). Mars's axis is inclined at 25.2 (compared
to the inclination of Earth's axis at 23.3) and has seasons like the Earth the Martian soil
• The grains appear to be coated with iron oxide rust and this planet appears to be red
• Also the atmosphere here is filled with dust which gives a strong red colour to this planet.
Hence Mars is often called the red planet. It is because of its red colour i.e. the colour of
blood that the ancients devoted the planet to Mars, the Roman God of war.
• The gravitational pull of the Mars is only about one-third that of the Earth as a result of
which this planet has a thin atmosphere.
• Mars atmosphere has very small amount of water vapour. At the surface the pressure is
about 6 millibar. In the Earth's atmosphere, such low pressure is found at about 50 km
about the surface.
• The surface temperature is subject to consider able fluctuations. Even at the equator the
temperature varies periodically due to variations of the Mars distance from the Sun.
• During the coldest month, at aphelion, the temperature of the Martian surface at the
equator is never above 0°C during the day. In the warmest season it reaches 20-25°C, but
by sunset it drops to freezing temperatures and at night it falls to -100°C or even lower.
In the polar region, the winter temperature falls to -143°C. Recent researches have shown
that the temperature for the planet as a whole is - 70°C
• Like Mercury and the Moon, the Martian surface is extensively cratered. More than
hundred craters are 120 km across. Few craters are found in the northern
• Two satellites of Mars were discovered by an American astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877
and were named after the sons of the Greek war God: Phobos and Deimos-Fear and
Terror.

5. Jupiter
• Jupiter is the largest of all the planets of our solar system and is known as the king of
planets. Its diameter is eleven times the diameter of the Earth. It would take 318 Earths
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to equal Jupiter's mass and about 1300 Earths could easily be packed inside this giant
planet.
• The mass of Jupiter exceeds the total mass of all other planets put together. It is the
fastest rotating planet of the solar system and takes only 9 hours 55 minutes to complete
one rotation on its axis. Keeping an average distance of 778.3 million km from the sun, it
completes one revolution in 11.86 years. Like other giant planets Jupiter is made up of
lighter materials such as hydrogen (84%) and helium (15%) and has a low density of 1.33.
• A major surprise of the Voyager mission of the United States in 1978 was the discovery of
a faint rings around Jupiter. This ring is 30 km thick, 6,400 km wide and reaches out 58,000
km from the planet's cloud tops. Jupiter probably lacks a solid, Earth Like, surface. The
temperature at the surface may be very low but it rises to 25,000°C at the core. This core
is made up of iron and silicate rock.
• The pressure here may reach 40 million times the pressure at the Earth's surface. Of all
the planets, Jupiter has the strongest surface gravity and has kept much of its original
atmosphere intact. This atmosphere is divided into three broad layers. The outermost
layer has the lowest temperature falling as low as -110°C. The temperature increases in
the intermediate and the lower layers.
• The most distinctive feature of Jupiter's atmosphere is the Great Red Spot. This is a high
pressure zone in Jupiter's southern hemisphere near the equator where the temperatures
are lower than the surrounding atmosphere. It covers a vast area which is 40,000 km long
and 32,000 km wide. Its colour sometimes fades and its size also undergoes changes
• According to latest discoveries, Jupiter has a total of 63 satellites. Of these, four are big
enough to the seen with any telescope and stand out distinctly. These are Io, Europa,
Ganymede and Callisto.
• According to the latest discoveries, Saturn has 60 satellites. These satellites range in size
from mere moonlets (diameter 3 to 4 km) to the giant Titan whose diameter is about
5,150 km. Thus, Titan is the second largest satellite of the solar system after Jupiter's
Ganymede. Discovered by a Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens in 1655, Titan has
aroused considerable interested among the astronomers all over the world. Scientists are
interested in the study of Titan primarily because its atmosphere resembles with that of
the earth. Titan's atmosphere is more akin to that of the earth than any other body of the
solar system. Both, atmosphere is dominated by nitrogen (78% for earth, 90-97% for
Titan). Another moon of Saturn which has aroused considerable interest is Enceladus.

6. Saturn
• Saturn Revolving around the Sun at a distance of 1431 million kilometres, this is the sixth
planet as per distance from the Sun. With its diameter stretching for 1,20,536 km it is the
second largest planet of the solar system, next only to Jupiter.
• It is also the second fastest rotating planet completing one rotation in 10 hours 40
minutes. Its terrific angular velocity has caused a huge bulge at its equator as a result of
which its equatorial diameter is 10,500 km longer than its polar diameter.
• Jupiter spins faster, but is less "flexible", so it does not bulge so much. Saturn has a density
of 0.69 which is less than that of water. Thus it will float in an imaginary ocean while any
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other planet will sink into it. Moving at a moderate speed of 9.7 km per second, Saturn
completes one revolution around the Sun in 29.37 years.
• The diameter of Saturn is over nine times the diameter of the Earth. Its mass equals 95
Earths, but it takes up about 800 times as much room.
• Like Jupiter, Saturn is made up of light gases such as hydrogen and helium. It has a solid
core of rocky iron which is about double the size of the core of the Earth.
• Saturn's atmosphere is characterized by alternate light and dark bands running almost
parallel to its equator. Winds blow at a very high speed of about 1,800 km per hour, with
maximum speed at the equator decreasing gradually polewards.
• The most spectacular feature of Saturn is the band of rings surrounding this planet in its
equatorial plane. Galileo saw Saturn's rings through his telescope in 1610. Saturn's rings
always remain tilted in the same direction. These rings measure as much as 2,70,000 km
which is more than twenty times the diameter of the Earth. But these enormously wide
rings are only 15 to 3 km thick, some of them only a few hundred metres in thickness.
These rings consist of particles of dust and ice.

7. Uranus
• Uranus was discovered on March 13, 1781 by William Herschel, a British astronomer. It is
2,877 million kilometres, ie, 19.19 astronomical units away from the Sun.
• It is also twice the Saturn's distance from the Sun. So, its discovery instantly doubled the
reach of the solar system as people knew it at that time.
• With its 51,118 km diameter, it is the third largest planet of the solar system. Uranus is
14 times more massive than the Earth but its density is only one-fourth the density of the
Earth.
• It takes only 10 hours 49 minutes to complete one rotation although it completes one
revolution around the Sun in 84.1 years.
• But like Venus, it has retrograde rotation, i.e. it rotates in opposite direction to that of the
other planets. Another strange thing about Uranus is that its axis is inclined at 98° to its
orbital plane.
• So, it rotates lying on its side and is known as "lop sided planet". Consequently, its poles
point towards the Sun alternatively. For half the duration of its orbit. i.e., 42 years, one
pole faces the Sun while the other pole is plunged in night for the same duration of time.
The atmosphere of Uranus contains large quantity of methane and it shines with a blue-
green light.
• The other elements of atmosphere are molecules of hydro gen and helium. Uranus is
quite far away from the Sun and receives negligibly small heat. Hence the temprature at
the cloud tops in the atmosphere is -215°C.

8. Neptune
• Neptune This planet was discovered on September 23, 1846. The credit for discovering
this planet goes to Adams of England and Urbain Leverrier of France.
• Neptune is similar to Uranus in respect of size, mass density and is regarded as Uranus's
twin. With the discovery of Neptune, our knowledge of the solar system expanded to over
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30 astronomical units which was earlier confined to less than 20 astronomical units. It
completes one orbit around the Sun in nearly circular orbit in 164.9 Earth years.
• Neptune's atmosphere may be made mostly of hydrogen but also seems to contain
helium, methane, acetylene, and ammonia. Being far away from the Sun, this planet has
extremely low temperature which drops to -200°C above the clouds.
• Hurricanes blow at an average speed of about 700 km per hour. Its axis is tilted at an angle
of 28.8° to its orbital plane and it experiences change of season as we do feel at the Earth.
Like Uranus, Neptune too is supposed to have a rocky core of rock-iron material slightly
larger than Earth, with a temperature around 7,000°C.

Other
Pluto
● As per the new definition of Planets determined by the International Astronomical Union
(IAU), Pluto had been omitted from the list of planets in 2006.
● Pluto is considered as a dwarf planet (size between planets and asteroids) now, and it is
a member of the Kuiper Belt.
Kuiper Belt
● It is a spherical boundary outside the orbit of Neptune containing a number of asteroids,
rocks, and comets.
Goldilocks Zone
● It refers to the habitable zone around a star where the temperature is just right - not too
hot and not too cold - for liquid water to exist on a planet.

Other Space Objects

1. Asteroids
● These are small objects; rocks (mostly debris) revolve around the Sun.
● They are mostly found in the Asteroid Belt which lies between the orbits of Mars and
Jupiter.
● These are also known as Minor planets.
● Ceres, Vesta, Psyche are some famous and largest asteroids in the solar system.
2. Meteors and Meteorites
● These are also known as Shooting stars.
● Meteors are the small-sized rocky material which is generally formed due to asteroid
collision and approaching the Earth.
● Because of Earth's atmospheric layers, these small rocks burn before reaching the surface.
● But there are some meteors which do not burn completely and land on Earth's surface.
They are called as Meteorites.
● Willamette, Mbozi, Cape York, and El Chaco are some meteorites found on the Earth.
● Lonar lake, Maharashtra in India is supposed to be created by a meteor impact
in Pleistocene Epoch.
3. Comets
● These are shiny, luminous "Tailed Stars". These are rocky and metallic materials
surrounded by frozen gases.
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● These are generally found in the Kuiper Belt. They travel towards the Sun.
● Their tail faces opposite of the Sun and head faces towards the Sun.
● They become visible when they travel close to the Sun.
● Halley's Comet is famous which appeared last time in 1986 and which reappears after
every 76 years.

Tricks to Learn planets in order from the Sun

My Very Efficient Mother Just Served Us Nuts
Inner Planets (Terrestrial planets)
1. M- Mercury
2. V- Venus
3. E- Earth
4. M- Mars
Outer Planets (Jovian planets)
5. J- Jupiter
6. S- Saturn
7. U- Uranus
8. N- Neptune
Tricks to learn planets in order of size
Just Sit Up Now Each Monday Morning
1. J- Jupiter
2. S- Saturn
3. U- Uranus
4. N- Neptune
5. E- Earth
6. V- Venus
7. M- Mars
8. M- Mercury

Conclusion

In this topic, we have studied Evolution of the universe, Galaxies, Nebula, Black Hole,
Constellation, Stars, Solar System, Planets.