Facts about the giant planets. Planets are interesting facts. Red Planet -

And they are solid planets or inner planets. The remaining four planets are , and . These planets are located in the outer solar system, they are called gas giants. Since ancient times, they have interested and attracted people with their grandeur and many secrets. This article will tell about these monsters.

The structure of the planets

All giant planets are gas balls, they consist mainly of helium and hydrogen. If you go down to one of the planets, you may never be able to reach its surface. They are so huge that even the "tiny" planet Uranus exceeds the Earth by 15 times. However, despite its size, one of the planets is so light that it could float on water. This planet is Saturn.

satellites

All gaseous planets have their satellites. Jupiter has 67 moons, Saturn has 62 moons, Uranus has 27, and Neptune has only 14 moons. For comparison, the Earth has only one satellite - the well-known Moon. The moons of the giant planets are of particular interest to scientists, as some of them may harbor life.

Rings

Saturn is recognized by its magnificent rings. However, not only he has rings. Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus also have several rings, but they have a different chemical composition, as a result of which they can only be seen with the help of special equipment. In addition, ice has only been found in the rings of Saturn.

The rotation of the planets

Just like the Earth, all gas monsters revolve around their star. However, the movement of gaseous planets around their own axis looks a little different. This is due to the gaseous structure of the planets: the fastest rotation is observed at the equator, and slower movement is noticeable in the zones of the poles.

Jupiter

A giant monster who is called the King of all planets. The planet is named after a Roman god. Jupiter is so huge that if desired, it can accommodate all the planets of the solar system combined. Its gravity is incredibly huge, which is why Jupiter pulls in all the radiation from space. The Earth would have been attacked by meteorites long ago if Jupiter's strong gravitational field did not attract wandering asteroids. Interestingly, with such a gigantic size, Jupiter rotates at a tremendous speed. If on Earth a day lasts 24 hours, then on Jupiter it is only 10 hours.

giant planets- the largest bodies in the solar system after the sun: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. They are located behind the main asteroid belt and therefore they are also called "outer" planets.
Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, that is, they consist mainly of gases that are in a solid state: hydrogen and helium.
But Uranus and Neptune were identified as ice giants, because in the thickness of the planets themselves, instead of metallic hydrogen, there is high-temperature ice.
giant planets many times larger than the Earth, but compared to the Sun, they are not at all large:

Computer calculations have shown that the giant planets play an important role in protecting the inner terrestrial planets from asteroids and comets.
Without these bodies in the solar system, our Earth would be hundreds of times more likely to be hit by asteroids and comets!
How do the giant planets protect us from the fall of intruders?

You have probably heard of the "space slalom" when automatic stations sent to distant objects in the solar system perform "gravitational maneuvers" around some planets. They approach them along a pre-calculated trajectory and, using the force of their attraction, accelerate even more, but do not fall on the planet, but "shoot" the word from the sling at an even greater speed than at the entrance and continue their movement. This saves fuel that would be needed for acceleration by engines alone.
In the same way, the giant planets throw asteroids and comets out of the solar system, which fly past them, trying to break through to the inner planets, including the Earth. Jupiter, with its fellows, increases the speed of such an asteroid, pushes it from the old orbit, it is forced to change its trajectory and flies into the abyss of space.
So without giant planets, life on Earth would probably be impossible due to constant meteorite bombardments.

Well, now let's briefly get acquainted with each of the giant planets.

Jupiter is the largest giant planet.

The first in order from the Sun, from the giant planets, is Jupiter. It is also the largest planet in the solar system.
It is sometimes said that Jupiter is a failed star. But to start its own process of nuclear reactions, Jupiter lacks mass, and quite a lot. Although, the mass is slowly growing due to the absorption of interplanetary matter - comets, meteorites, dust and solar wind. One of the options for the development of the solar system shows that if this continues, then Jupiter may well become a star or a brown dwarf. And then our solar system will become a double star system. By the way, binary star systems are a common thing in the Cosmos surrounding us. Single stars, like our Sun, are much smaller.

There are calculations showing that even now Jupiter radiates more energy than it absorbs from the Sun. And if this is true, then nuclear reactions should already be going on, otherwise there is simply nowhere to take energy from. And this is a sign of a star, not a planet ...


This picture also shows the famous Great Red Spot, it is also called the "eye of Jupiter". This is a giant whirlwind that has apparently existed for more than one hundred years.

In 1989, the Galileo spacecraft was launched to Jupiter. For 8 years of work, he took unique pictures of the giant planet itself, the satellites of Jupiter, and also made many measurements.
What is happening in the atmosphere of Jupiter and in its bowels - one can only guess. The probe of the apparatus "Galileo" descended into its atmosphere at 157 km., Withstood only 57 minutes, after which it was crushed by a pressure of 23 atmospheres. But, he managed to report powerful thunderstorms and hurricane winds, and also transmitted data on composition and temperature.
Ganymede, the largest of Jupiter's moons, is also the largest of the planetary moons in the solar system.
At the very beginning of research, in 1994, Galileo observed the fall of the comet Shoemaker-Levy on the surface of Jupiter and sent images of this catastrophe. From Earth, this event could not be observed - only residual phenomena that became visible as Jupiter rotated.

Next comes the equally famous body of the solar system - the giant planet Saturn, which is known primarily for its rings. Saturn's rings are made up of ice particles ranging in size from dust particles to fairly large chunks of ice. With an outer diameter of 282,000 kilometers, Saturn's rings are only about ONE kilometer thick. Therefore, when viewed from the side, the rings of Saturn are not visible.
But Saturn also has moons. About 62 moons of Saturn have been discovered so far.
The largest moon of Saturn is Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury! But, it consists largely of frozen gas, that is, lighter than Mercury. If Titan is moved into the orbit of Mercury, then the ice gas will evaporate and the size of Titan will greatly decrease.
Another interesting satellite of Saturn, Enceladus, attracts scientists because there is an ocean of liquid water under its icy surface. And if so, then life is possible in it, because the temperatures there are positive. Powerful water geysers have been discovered on Enceladus, hitting hundreds of kilometers in height!

The Cassini research station has been orbiting Saturn since 2004. During this time, a lot of data has been collected about Saturn itself, its satellites and rings.
The automatic station "Huygens" was also landed on the surface of Titan, one of Saturn's satellites. This was the first ever landing of a probe on the surface of a celestial body in the Outer Solar System.
Despite its significant size and mass, the density of Saturn is approximately 9.1 times less than the density of the Earth. Therefore, the acceleration of free fall at the equator is only 10.44 m/s². That is, having landed there, we would not feel the increased gravity.

Uranus is an ice giant.

The atmosphere of Uranus is made up of hydrogen and helium, and the interior is made up of ice and solid rocks. Uranus seems to be a fairly calm planet, unlike the stormy Jupiter, but vortices have been seen in its atmosphere. If Jupiter and Saturn are called gas giants, then Uranus and Neptune are ice giants, since there is no metallic hydrogen in their interiors, and instead there is a lot of ice in various high-temperature states.
Uranus emits very little internal heat and is therefore the coldest of the planets in the solar system, with a recorded temperature of -224°C. Even on Neptupne, which is farther from the Sun, it is even warmer.
Uranus has moons, but they are not very large. The largest of them, Titania, is more than half the diameter of our moon.

No, I didn't forget to rotate the photo :)

Unlike other planets of the solar system, Uranus, as it were, lies on its side - its own axis of rotation lies almost in the plane of rotation of Uranus around the Sun. Therefore, it turns to the Sun with either the South or the North Poles. That is, a sunny day at the pole lasts 42 years, and then is replaced by 42 years of "polar night", during which the opposite pole is illuminated.

This image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2005. Visible are the rings of Uranus, a brightly colored south pole, and a bright cloud at northern latitudes.

It turns out that not only Saturn adorned itself with rings!

It is curious that all the planets bear the names of Roman gods. And only Uranus is named after a god from ancient Greek mythology.
The acceleration of free fall at the equator of Uranus is 0.886 g. That is, the force of gravity on this giant planet is even less than on Earth! And this is despite its huge mass... The reason for this is again the low density of the ice giant Uranus.

Spacecraft flew past Uranus, taking pictures along the way, but detailed studies have not yet been carried out. True, NASA plans to send a research station to Uranus in the 2020s. The European Space Agency also has plans.

Neptune is the most distant planet in the solar system, after Pluto was "demoted" to "dwarf planets". Like the other giant planets, Neptune is much larger and heavier than the Earth.
Neptune, like Saturn, is an ice giant planet.

Neptune is quite far from the Sun and therefore became the first planet discovered through mathematical calculations, and not through direct observation. The planet was visually discovered through a telescope on September 23, 1846 by astronomers at the Berlin Observatory, based on preliminary calculations by the French astronomer Le Verrier.
It is curious that, judging by the drawings, Galileo Galia observed Neptune long before that, back in 1612, with his first telescope! But... he didn't recognize it as a planet, mistaking it for a fixed star. Therefore, Galileo is not considered the discoverer of the planet Neptune.

Despite its considerable size and mass, the density of Neptune is about 3.5 times less than the density of the Earth. Therefore, at the equator, gravity is only 1.14 g, that is, almost like on Earth, like the two previous giant planets.

While we all remember some facts about our solar system, such as the fact that it has nine planets (at least until scientists change their minds), there are also much lesser known facts that only a few know about. Listed below are ten interesting facts about our solar system and the planets located in it:

10 Jupiter Sucks Up Space Debris

Jupiter is the largest planet in our system and is known for its "great red spot" - a prolonged storm on Jupiter's surface. However, this planet has other interesting qualities, and scientists believe that it is very important for our security.

The reason for this is Jupiter's huge size and the gravitational force that acts as a protective barrier to shield the Earth from space debris, pulling dangerous objects into its orbit before they reach us. Frenchman Pierre-Simon Laplace (Pierre-Simon Laplace) discovered a comet that seemed to be heading towards Earth, but which was subsequently sucked in by Jupiter's gravity and disappeared from the solar system.

9. There are 5 dwarf planets in our solar system


Although discussions about dwarf planets do not stop, everyone agrees on one thing - they are large planetary bodies that have not cleared their orbit enough to be considered a separate planet, but at the same time they are not in the orbit of another planet, which would make them satellite.

There are 5 dwarf planets in our system: one of them is the recently reclassified Pluto. The other four dwarfs are called: Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake.

8. There aren't that many asteroids in our solar system.


We've all seen movies about asteroids, but what many don't realize is that our system has both a huge asteroid belt located between Jupiter and Mars and small asteroid clusters throughout the solar system - and some of them are quite close to Earth. However, the films were wrong about one thing: although they show how the spacecraft constantly wobbles to avoid hitting huge rocks, in fact, the asteroids are so far apart that this would not have to be done.

7. Venus is the hottest planet


When asked about the hottest planet, many will answer that it is Mercury. While not true, it's an understandable conclusion given that Mercury is still the closest planet to the Sun. But as it turns out, the temperatures on Venus are much higher than on Mercury, even though it is farther from the Sun. The reason for this is that Mercury, due to its proximity to the Sun, does not even have an atmosphere, which is why nothing retains heat.

Venus, on the other hand, has a very dense atmosphere that retains the heat it receives from the Sun. Also interesting is that Venus is the "black sheep" of the planets in that it rotates in the opposite direction compared to all the others.

6. Pluto's status has been in doubt for a very long time.


Many people were shocked when the scientific community announced that Pluto was no longer considered a planet. Many of us have been told since childhood that Pluto is a planet, and no one questioned this. Prankster scientists have made us think about what other misconceptions we take for granted.

However, in reality, Pluto's status has been in question for nearly 30 years - it just hasn't been mentioned outside of the academia of astronomers who have been researching it. Pluto is also much smaller than most imagine. It would take almost 170 Plutos to occupy the same volume in space as the Earth.

5. One day on Mercury equals 58 days on Earth


A day on any planet is its full revolution. We are used to the fact that this rotation is completed in about 24 hours, and the fact that spending a day on Mercury would be equivalent to spending 60 days on Earth sounds very unusual. Waiting for morning would be very, very difficult. (By the way, we can experience a similar phenomenon by moving to Antarctica, where the Sun is below the horizon all winter.)

Because of Mercury's orbit around the Sun, a year on it is about 88 days on Earth, which means that Mercury has less than two days a year. But that's not all, because of the strange orbit of the planet, the Sun there looks like it is moving back and forth across the sky.

4. Seasons on Uranus last 20 years


Uranus in English is known as the celestial body with the most unfortunate name (its name is consonant with "your anus"), which has led to a huge number of jokes related to this planet. But Uranus is famous for more than one name. Its axis of rotation is at an angle of 82 degrees, which is why it actually "lies" relative to the plane of revolution around the Sun. Because of this, one season on Uranus lasts about 20 Earth years, and there are many unusual weather phenomena on Uranus.

In recent years, a long winter storm has finally come to an end on Uranus, and soon a long spring lasting decades will come to the planet. However, spring on Uranus is not close to Earthlike, as the temperature will still be very low and giant storms will form on the surface of the planet: this and more can be expected from a hostile climate on Uranus.

3. The sun makes up 99% of the mass of the entire solar system


The sun, of course, is the most important part of our solar system. Despite the fact that this amazing ball of gas provides us with light, heat and energy - and in fact it is thanks to it that our solar system is what it is, it is easy enough sometimes to forget how huge our star is.

The sun makes up over 99% of the mass of our entire system. Jupiter and other giant planets take on most of the rest of the mass, and the Earth is barely visible in this equation.

2. You would weigh a lot less on the moon.


The gravity of the Moon, due to its small mass, is much less than that of the Earth. By comparison, Earth's gravity is about six times that of the Moon's. Essentially, this means that you could jump six times higher than on Earth. It would probably take a very long time to get used to it.

1 Saturn Is Not The Only Planet With Rings


While we were taught in school that Saturn has amazing rings made up of small rocks, ice, and other particles, other planets actually do have rings. All the major planets in our system have rings. This applies both to Jupiter, whose rings can be seen from our planet, and to Neptune. Even Uranus has nine bright rings, as well as a few faint ones, but all of them are difficult to see because of the distance.

The group of giant planets is made up of four planets in the solar system - Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter. Since these huge planets are much farther away from the Sun than the smaller planets, they have another name - the outer planets.

You can distribute interesting facts about the giant planets into several categories. The first takes into account their structure and rotation. The second is devoted to the phenomena observed in their atmospheres. In the third, the presence of rings in the planets is noted. The fourth describes the presence of their satellites.

The structure of the giant planets and their rotation

Basically, the giant planets are formed from a complex mixture of gases - ammonia, hydrogen, methane and helium. According to scientists, these planets have small stone or metal cores.

Due to the huge mass of the object, the pressure in the bowels of the gas planet reaches millions of atmospheres. Its compression by the force of gravity releases significant energy. As a result of this factor, the giant planets release more heat than is absorbed from solar radiation.

Having dimensions much larger than the earth, such gas planets make a daily revolution in 9-17 hours. as for the average density of the giant planets, it is close to 1.4 g/cu. see - approximately equal to the solar.

Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, has a mass greater than the total mass of all other planets. Probably, it was for this that he was named after the main god of the Roman Pantheon. Scientists believe that it is the rapid rotation of Jupiter that explains the location of clouds in its atmosphere - we observe them in the form of extended bands.

atmospheric phenomena

Among the interesting facts about the giant planets is the presence of powerful atmospheric shells, where processes that are extraordinary in terms of terrestrial concepts take place.

In the atmospheres of such planets, strong winds are not uncommon, with speeds of over a thousand kilometers per hour.

Long-lived hurricane vortices are also observed there, for example, on Jupiter - a three-hundred-year-old Great Red Spot. The Great Dark Spot existed on Neptune for a long period, and spots of anticyclones are noted on Saturn.

Rings and satellites of the giant planets

The inconspicuousness of the “rim” of Jupiter is explained by its narrowness and the small size of dust particles in its composition.

The ring of Saturn is the most impressive in size - its diameter is 400 thousand kilometers, but the width of the ring is only a few tens of meters. The ring consists of pieces of ice and small stones rotating around the planet. These parts are separated by several gaps, which form several different rings encircling the planet.

Uranus's ring system is the second largest, and its "rim" is red, gray, and blue. It contains pieces of water ice and very dark debris no larger than a meter in diameter.

Neptune's ring contains five sub-rings, which are thought to be ice particles.

Jupiter's satellite system includes almost 70 objects. One of them - Ganymede, is considered the largest satellite in the solar system.

Researchers have discovered more than 60 satellites of Saturn, Neptune has 27 satellites, Neptune has 14, including Triton. The latter is notable for its retrograde orbit - the only one of all the large satellites of the solar system.

This satellite, as well as two other satellites of the gas planets - Titan and Io, have atmospheres.

Interesting video. 3D journey through the solar system. Giant planets:

There are currently eight planets in our solar system. The four planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are identified by scientists as a separate group of "gas giants", together they make up 99% of the mass of matter that is in orbits of rotation belonging to the Sun. The article presents the most interesting facts about the giant planets.

1. The hallmark of Jupiter are the stripes on its surface., there are several theories about their origin. One theory claims that the stripes appeared as a result of convection, this process involves heating and raising some layers of the atmosphere, cooling and falling off others.
2. The Great Red Spot located on Jupiter, an atmospheric phenomenon similar to a storm, was discovered back in the 17th century. Lightning discharges have been detected on the planet, which are three times the power of the earth. The speed of wind gusts exceeds 600 km / h, and their formation is due to the release of heat from the bowels of the gas giant.
3. Astronomers now know about the existence of 67 satellites of the planet Jupiter.. The largest - Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto were discovered in the 17th century by Galileo Galilei.
4. If the name of the moon of Jupiter ends with "e", for example, Karma, Pasipha, this means that neither rotate in the opposite direction relative to the axial rotation of the gas giant.
5. Jupiter has the highest rotational speed on its axis in the solar system, the planet makes a complete rotation in 9 hours 50 minutes. There is no change of seasons on Jupiter, this is due to a slight tilt of the axis around which the "giant" rotates, a little more than 3 degrees, for comparison, the Earth has 23.5.
6. At the north pole of Saturn there is a hexagon formed by clouds, and its shape tends to be correct, the reasons for its occurrence are unknown. At both poles, scientists have discovered oval and spiral aurora borealis.
7. To make a complete revolution around the Sun, Saturn needs almost 30 Earth years, but the change of day and night during this time occurs only ~ 10 times. Different parts of this gas giant rotate at different speeds, "zone 1" has a rotation interval of 10 hours 14 minutes, "zone 2" - 10 hours, 34 minutes, "zone 3" - 10 hours 39 minutes.
8. Of the entire group of giant planets, Saturn has the most noticeable rings, they consist of particles of ice.. The rings of Saturn are very thin, less than 1 kilometer, in 1921 the whole world decided that the rings had disappeared, this happened due to the fact that the rings became at a certain angle and the instruments of that time did not allow them to be seen.
9. Uranus was discovered in 1781 by astronomer William Herschel and was the first planet to be discovered in the modern world. Initially, this Gas giant was mistaken for a star, later for a comet. The first name of the planet was "George", in honor of George III, who ruled in England at the time of its discovery.
10. The atmosphere is 98% hydrogen and helium, but unlike the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptune contain a large amount of ice in their depths. Atmospheric phenomena on Uranus are extremely insignificant, this is due to the low temperatures on the planet, it is the coldest planet in our solar system.
11. Uranus' axis of rotation is offset at an angle of almost 98 degrees relative to its rotation around the Sun, as a result of which different parts alternately face the Sun. Day and night alternate at the poles every 42 Earth years.
12. Uranus is the second planet to have a ring system. Scientists are inclined to believe that the rings were not formed together with Uranus, but later, during the destruction of some of its satellites. There are 13 rings, the inner rings are gray, the middle ones are red, and the two outer ones are blue.
13. In terms of the composition of the atmosphere and body, Neptune is most similar to Uranus, but the blue color gives it a significant content of methane in the atmosphere. Scientists suggest that this planet has the fastest winds in the entire solar system, up to 2100 km/h. The estimated temperature on the surface is -220 degrees, and in the bowels of the planet 7000-7100.
14. From Earth, Neptune can only be observed once a year.(on opening day 26 September 1846, later in 2011). In 2011, exactly one year has passed on Neptune since its discovery, it was 164.79 Earth years.
15. Neptune's largest moon, Triton, orbits the planet in the opposite direction of its rotation. Triton moves in a spiral and about 10 million years later will be destroyed after overcoming the Roche limit.