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Click on an object to see a description of it!

The Sun

Type Star
Diamater 1.3927M Km
Mass 1.989 × 10^30 kg
Surface Temp 5,778K
Orbital Period N/a

The Sun is the centeral object holding our solar system together, located in the Orion Spur of the Milky Way Galaxy. Although it is important to us, in the grand scheme of the universe, our star is not very unique.
The Sun was formed about 4.6 billion years ago. Its nearest stellar neighbor is the Alpha Centauri system

Parker Solar Probe

Type Probe
Diamater 1.3927M Km
Launch Date 12 Aug 2018
Orbital Period 88 Days

The Parker Solar Probe is a mission headed by NASA. It aims to observe the outer corona and other parts of the sun. The probe is in the orbit of Mercury. The data collected during this mission will belp us to further understand what impact the sun has on our planet, from predicting solar weather to further understanding solar wind. To achive its goal the probe has been equipped with four sets of instruments to study, sagnetic feilds, plasma, energetic particles, and image solar wind.

Its really interesting to see how they were able to heatproof this thing with it being so close to the sun. Other trips like MESSANGER have had issues with the heat. The probe and its instuments are protected by a heat shield able to withstand up to 1,377C.
The probe has made a couple major discoveries so far. First, it has discovered magnetic swwitchbacks in which the magnetic field of the solar winds suddenly flip. The probe has also discovered 20 sungrazer comets (comets too close to the sun to be detected from earth).

Mercury

Type Planet
Diamater 4,879.4 km
Mass 0.055 Earths
Surface Temp 437 K
Orbital Period 115.88 Days
Moons 0

Mercury is a rocky planet close to the sun. It is the smallest planet in the solar system(only slightly bigger than the moon). Although Mercury is closer to the sun, its actually Venus which is the hottest in the solar system. Mercury has an axial tilt which causes its poles to be permanently shadowed, this could mean that there is water ice present on the planet.

Venus

Type Planet
Diamater 12,104 km
Mass 0.815 Earths
Surface Temp 232 K
Orbital Period 224.701 Days
Moons 0

Venus is a terestial planet and one of our neghbors(often described as one of the sister planets to earth). Venus has one of the thickest atmospheres in the solar system. Many craters are found on the surface of venus(all in near pristine condition), suggesting that it may have gone through a major resurfacing event in the past couple hundred-million years.
Venus was visited by multiple landers during the Venera series of missions. These missions were all failures with the probes breaking in the atmosphere, or not long after landing(due to the heat, aswell as the atmosphere). Luckily they were able to snap a couple pictures of the surface of venus, such as the one below.

Earth

Type Planet
Diamater 12,742 km
Mass 1 Earth
Surface Temp 255 K
Orbital Period 365.256 Days
Moons 1

Our home planet! (unless your not from this planet)
Earth is pretty unique compared to much of the rest of the solar system. Earth is one of the only planets with, liquid water, magnetic poles, plate tectonics, life, tidal forces, among other things.

The Moon

Type Moon
Diamater 3,474.8 km
Mass 0.0123 Earths
Surface Temp 250 K
Orbital Period 27.321 Days

The Moon is the one and only moon of Earth (named such because it is a moon). The moon is theorized to have been created when an object known as Theia collided with the earth.

Ryugu

Type Asteroid
Diamater 900 M
Surface Temp 373 K
Orbital Period 1.3 Years

Ryugu is a near earth asteroid and the location of Hayabusa2's first mission. In the samples returned by Hayabusa2 we were able to find organic compounds such as uracil and vitamin B3 (sugesting that these things could have origianly been created outside of earth).

Hayabusa2

Type Lander
Date JAXA
Launch Date 3, Dec 2014
Return Date 5, Dec 2020

Hayabusa2 is the sucessor to the Hayabusa probe. Hayabusa2 brought a couple little guys called MINERVA along with it. MINERVA is small rover for exploring the surface of asteroids (such as ryugu). One of my favorite parts of this mission is the pictures captured by the MINERVA (as seen below). Hayabusa2 sucessfuly completed its mission and is going back for another try at a different asteroid(not yet named)

Deimos

Type Moon
Diamater 12.4 km
Mass 1.51×10^15 kg
Surface Temp 233 K
Orbital Period 1.263 Days

Deimos is the smallest of the two moons of mars. Its smooth appearence comes from its craters being filled with regolith(a dustlike substance). JAXA's MMS mission will fly by Deimos on its way to Phobos to do some remote observations. Theres not too much else interesting about Deimos.

Phobos

Type Moon
Diamater 22.533 km
Mass 1.060×10^16 kg
Surface Temp 233 K
Orbital Period 0.318 Days

Phobos is the larger of the two martian moons. Phobos is though to be a rubble pile(making it very fragile). Phobos is currently on its way to crashing into mars in about 50 million years, it could possibly also break up into a ring lasting 1-100 million years around mars.

Mars

Type Planet
Diamater 6,779 km
Mass 0.107 Earths
Surface Temp 209 K
Orbital Period 686.980 Days
Moons 2

Mars is the only other populated planet in the solar system (populated by rovers). Mars is known for its red coloring, which comes from an abundance of iron oxide on its surface. Mars Is suspected that have once been much like earth, such as once having liquid water.

Asteroid Belt

Type Belt

The asteroid belt is a region between Mars and jupiter filled with asteroids(obviously). The asteroid belt is home to the dwarf planet Ceres. Despite how it's often depicted, the asteroid belt is not very dense(most probes which fly through don't even encounter objects).

Ceres

Type Dwarf Planet
Diamater 946 km
Mass 0.00016 Earths
Surface Temp 110 K
Orbital Period 4.60 Days
Moons 0

Ceres is a small rocky dwarf planet in the asteroid belt. It is the largest object in the belt. Ceres is the smallest of the dwarf planets after Sedna. Ceres was once considered an asteroid, but that has since changed. Ceres has a small exosphere aswell as cryovolcanos which occasionally spew liquid water.

Jupiter

Type Gas Giant
Diamater 142,800 km
Mass 317.8 Earths
Surface Temp 165 K
Orbital Period 11.86 Years
Moons 95

Jupiter is the first of the gas giants and the largest and the first planet in our solar system. Jupiter is mostly composed of hydrogen. Jupiter's outer atmosphere is thick and turbulent, causing many storms on its surface such as the big red spot.

Io

Type Moon
Diamater 3,643.2 km
Mass 0.015 Earths
Surface Temp 110 K
Orbital Period 1.769 Days

Io is a moon of Jupiter. Io's surface is covered in over 400 volcanoes many of which erupt sulfur and sulfur dioxide giving io its unique coloring. These volcanos make Io the most geologically active object in the whole solar system.

Callisto

Type Moon
Diamater 4,820.6 km
Mass 0.018 Earths
Surface Temp 134 K
Orbital Period 16.689 Days

Callisto is a moon of Jupiter. Callisto is thought to be the oldest, aswell as the most cratered object in the solar system. Callisto gets its shiny look from impact craters being topped with water ice. Callisto has kept its pristine craters as there is no active volcanoes or tectonic shifts.

Ganymede

Type Moon
Diamater 5,268.2 km
Mass 0.025 Earths
Surface Temp 110 K
Orbital Period 7.154 Days

Ganymede is a moon of Jupiter aswell as the largest moon in the solar system and the largest object in general without an atmosphere. Ganymede's surface is mostly composed of silicate rock, but it is thought to also have water ice.

Europa

Type Moon
Diamater 3,121.6 km
Mass 0.008 Earths
Surface Temp 102 K
Orbital Period 3.551 Days

Europa is a moon of jupiter. Due to its young appearance and water ocean Europa is often thought to be one of the only objects in our solar system to harbor life. Europa has the smoothest surface of any object in our solar system. The dark streaks on Europa's surface are known as lineae and are thought to have been created simalerly to ocean riders on earth

Saturn

Type Gas Giant
Diamater 120,536 km
Mass 95.159 Earth
Surface Temp 124 K
Orbital Period 29,4475 Years
Moons 146

Saturn is the 2nd largest planet in the solar system. Saturn is best known for its large rings; which formed . Saturn's has the most moons in the solar system (146 not counting her many moonlets in its rings). Saturn is thought to have a rocky core surrounded by an atmosphere of metallic hydrogen.

Mimas

Type Moon
Diamater 396.4 km
Mass 0.0311 Earths
Surface Temp 64 K
Orbital Period 0.942 Days

Mimas is a moon of Saturn, it is the smallest object rounded by its own gravity(has about the land area of spain). Due to its low density it is thought that mimas is mostly composed of water ice rather than rock. Mimas features a large crater named Hershell (no this wasn't he inspiration for the dearh star; the crater was not known at the time of star war's realese.)

Titan

Type Moon
Diamater 5,149.5 km
Mass 0.0225 Earths
Surface Temp 93.7 K
Orbital Period 15.945 Days

Titan is one of the moons of Saturn. Titan is the only moon to have an atmosphere thicker than Earths. It is also the only other object that we have clear evedence of surface water on. Titan will be home to the Dragonfly quadcopter in the near future.

Enceladus

Type Moon
Diamater 504.2 km
Mass 0.0395 Earths
Surface Temp 75 K
Orbital Period 1.37 Days

Encladeus is a moon of Saturn. Encladius is covered in bright ice and snow making it the most reflective body in the solar system, and much colder than the rest of Saturn's moons. Encladeus's liquid ocean is often a target for astrobiologists due to the warmth it has.

Tethys

Type Moon
Diamater 1,062 km
Mass 1.03×10^−4 Earths
Surface Temp 86 K
Orbital Period 1.887 Days

Tethys is a moon of Saturn. Tethys has the lowest density of any moon in thr solar system (suggesting it is made of mostly ice). Tethys is covered in many smooth planes and hills.

Dione

Type Moon
Diamater 1,122.8 km
Surface Temp 87 K
Orbital Period 2.736 Days

Dione is a moon of Saturn. Dione is a fairly uninteresting being composed of mostly rock.

Rhea

Type Moon
Diamater 1,527.6 km
Surface Temp 53 K
Orbital Period 4.518 Days

Rhea is a moon of Saturn. Rhea is mostly composed of silicate rock. It is the smallest observed object to keep hydrostatic equilibrium. At one point it was suggested that Rhea had rings, but this has since been disproven.

Iapetus

Type Moon
Diamater 1,469 km
Surface Temp 110 K
Orbital Period 79.3 Days

Iapetus is a moon of Saturn. It's mostly composed of ice. Iapetus's most notable feture is the large dark region making up its trailing hemisphere. I wanted to talk about the difference in composition between these two regions but it appears that there is no information.

Uranus

Type Ice Giant
Diamater 51,118 km
Mass 14.536 Earths
Surface Temp 76 K
Orbital Period 84.02 Years
Moons 28

Uranus is the first of the ice giants. Uranus is the only planet which rotates sideways (east to west). Uranus has a small ring system (larger than Neptune, but smaller than jupiter).

Neptune

Type Ice Giant
Diamater 49,244 km
Mass 17.147 Earths
Surface Temp 72 K
Orbital Period 164.85 Years
Moons 16

placehold

Triton

Type Moon
Diamater 2,706.8 km
Surface Temp 38 K
Orbital Period 5.876 Days

Triton is thought to have once been a dwarf planet in the kuiper belt.

Kuiper Belt

Type Belt

Place hold.

Pluto

Type Dwarf Planet
Diamater 2,376.6 km
Mass 0.00218 Earths
Surface Temp 44 K
Orbital Period 247.94 Years
Moons 5

Pluto was once a planet, now its been delegated to simply just a dwarf planet

Arrokoth

Type Object
Surface Temp 42 K
Orbital Period 297.67 Years

New Horizons final destination.

The Solar System

The solar system is cool :3

Most writing is placeholder for now ( ̄▽ ̄*)ゞ
Articles done up to: Uranus