A brief histroy of Solar System The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally

bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Of the many objects that orbit the Sun, most of the mass is contained within eight relatively solitary planets whose orbits are almost circular and lie within a nearly flat disc called the ecliptic plane. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, also called the terrestrial planets, are primarily composed of rock and metal. The four outer planets, the gas giants, are substantially more massive than the terrestrials. The two largest, Jupiter and Saturn, are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium; the two outermost planets, Uranus and Neptune, are composed largely of ices, such as water, ammonia and methane, and are often referred to separately as ice giants. Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields. The Sun is a G-type main sequence star comprising about 99.8632% of the total mass of the Solar System. It is a nearperfect sphere, with an oblateness estimated at about 9 millionths, which

means that its polar diameter differs from its equatorial diameter by only 10 km. Astronomers think that the Sun (and the planets) formed from the solar nebula about 4.59 billion years ago. The Sun is in the main sequence stage right now, slowly using up its hydrogen fuel. But at some point, in about 5 billion years from now, the Sun will enter the red giant phase, where it swells up to consume the inner planets including Earth (probably). It will slough off its outer layers and then shrink back down to a relatively tiny white dwarf. mean diameter 1.392 x 106 km equatorial radius 6.955 x 108 m volume 1.412 x 1018 km3 mass 1.9891 x 1030 kg equatorial surface gravity 274.0 m/s2 escape velocity 617.7 km/s equatorial rotational velocity 1997 m/s mean distance from Galatic Center 2.5 x 1017 km orbital velocity of solar system 251 km/s Mercury aphelion 6.9817 x 1010 m perihelion 4.6 x 1010 m

mean radius 2.4397 x 106 m volume 6.083 x 1010 km3 mass 3.3022 x 1023 kg equatorial surface gravity 3.7 m/s2 escape velocity 4250 m/s orbital velocity 4.787 x 104 m/s rotational velocity 3.026 m/s Venus aphelion 1.0894 x 1011 m perihelion 1.0747 x 1011 m mean radius 6.0518 x 106 m volume 9.38 x 1011 km3 mass 4.8685 x 1024 kg equatorial surface gravity 8.87 m/s2 escape velocity 1.046 x 104 m/s orbital velocity 3.502 x 104 m/s rotational velocity 1.81 m/s Earth aphelion 1.5209 x 1011 m

perihelion 1.4709 x 1011 m equatorial radius 6.3781 x 106 m polar radius 6.3568 x106 m mean radius 6.371 x 106 m volume 1.0832 x 1012 km3 mass 5.9736 x 1024 kg equatorial surface gravity 9.78 m/s2 escape velocity 1.1186 x 104 m/s orbital velocity 2.978 x 104 m/s rotational velocity 465.1 m/s Mars aphelion 2.4921 x 1011 m perihelion 1.0667 x 1011 m equatorial radius 3.3962 x106 m polar radius 3.3763 x 106 m mean radius 3.3862 x 106 m volume 1.6318 x 1011 km3 mass 6.4185 x 1023 kg equatorial surface gravity 3.711 m/s2

escape velocity 5027 m/s orbital velocity 2.4077 x 104 m/s rotational velocity 241.17 m/s Jupiter aphelion 8.1652 x 1011 m perihelion 7.4057 x 1011 m equatorial radius 7.1492 x 107 m polar radius 6.6854 x 107 m mean radius 6.9911 x107 m volume 1.4313 x 1015 km3 mass 1.8986 x 1027 kg equatorial surface gravity 24.79 m/s2 escape velocity 5.95 x 104 m/s orbital velocity 1.307 x 104 m/s rotational velocity 1.26 x 104 m/s Saturn aphelion 1.5133 x 1012 m perihelion 1.3535 x 1012 m equatorial radius 6.0268 x 107 m

polar radius 5.4364 x 107 m mean radius 5.7316 x 107 m volume 8.2713 x 1014 km3 mass 5.6846 x 1026 kg equatorial surface gravity 10.44 m/s2 escape velocity 3.55 x104 m/s orbital velocity 9690 m/s rotational velocity 9870 m/s Uranus aphelion 3.0044 x 1012 m perihelion 2.7489 x 1012 m equatorial radius 2.5559 x 107 m polar radius 2.4973 x 107 m mean radius 2.5266 x 107 m volume 6.833 x 1013 km3 mass 8.681 x 1025 kg equatorial surface gravity 8.69 m/s2 escape velocity 2.13 x104 m/s orbital velocity 6810 m/s

rotational velocity 2590 m/s Neptune aphelion 4.5539 x 1012 m perihelion 4.4529 x 1012 m equatorial radius 2.4764 x 107 m polar radius 2.4341 x 107 m mean radius 2.4553 x107 m volume 6.254 x1013 km3 mass 1.0243 x1026 kg equatorial surface gravity 11.15 m/s2 escape velocity 2.35 x104 m/s orbital velocity 5430 m/s rotational velocity 2680 m/s Moon apogee 4.0541 x 108 m perigee 3.6257 x 108 m equatorial radius 1.7381 x 106 m polar radius 1.7359 x 106 m mean radius 1.737 x 106 m

volume 2.1958 x 1010 km3 mass 7.3477 x 1022 kg equatorial surface gravity 1.622 m/s2 escape velocity 2380 m/s orbital velocity 1022 m/s rotational velocity 4.627 m/s