Basics

__**The Basics **__ Our solar system is comprised of one star (the Sun) and nine planets. The planets orbit the Sun, generally in the same plane (Pluto deviates slightly).  Image from: @http://astrobioloblog.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/what-is-a-solar-system/ The list of planets, beginning with the nearest to the Sun is as follows: Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto This list can be remembered using the mnemonic: The orbit of a planet around the Sun determines one year on that planet, for us this is 365.24 days. Depending on the speed of the orbit and the distance from the Sun, the 'year' on each planet varies greatly. For instance, Mercury has a year of eighty-eight Earth-days and Pluto has a year of 248 Earth-years. **Home **
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