Thanks to a rare alignment of planets 250 years ago, we were able to learn for the first time just how large our solar system really is.
Guardian of the Galaxy
Many people have an emotional attachment to the planet, and feel somewhat offended that the mean astronomers have declared the tiny world to be not a planet. So what about Pluto? Well, it turns out we now know a great deal more about the planet than we did when you were little, and we’ll soon know even more.
Neptune All Night
In some ways, associating Neptune with the night is rather fitting. Neptune is 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth, which means the Sun appears about 1/30th the width of Earth’s sun, and about 1/1000th as bright. That is 400 times brighter than the Moon, but it is hardly what we might consider daylight bright.
Funny
Uranus is often considered the funny planet. Pronounce its name in a particular way and you are reminded of a particular portion of your posterior. But even when given a more civilized pronunciation, Uranus remains a funny planet. Its characteristics are somewhat different from the others, which reveals a violent past.
Biden Time
There’s a newly discovered dwarf planet in our solar system, which was recently announced in Nature. It doesn’t even have a name beyond its designation of 2012 VP113, though it has been nicknamed Biden (after the U.S. Vice President) by its discoverers.
Lord of the Rings
All of the outer planets (and at least one asteroid) have ring systems, but none are nearly so bright and extensive as those of Saturn. Saturn will always be known as the ringed planet.
Good to be the King
Jupiter is sometimes said to be a failed star, with a mass just a bit too small to fuse elements in its core. This isn’t really an accurate description, since the it takes at least 13 times the mass of Jupiter to initiate fusion. However, when compared to the other planets in the solar system, Jupiter is king. Jupiter is 2.5 times the mass of all the other planets combined.
War and Peace
When seen in the night sky, Mars is a burnt-reddish color. It’s sometimes brighter and sometimes dimmer as over the months and years it moves against the background stars. Sometimes it appears to stop along its starry path and reverse direction for a while, exhibiting what is known as retrograde motion. With its bloody color and strange motion through the sky, it is perhaps not surprising that it is named after the Roman god of war.
Broken World
The view of Earth from space often evokes thoughts of an Eden. That pale blue dot that cradles humanity. But our planet’s fragile beauty was born from violent collisions large and small.