Early planetary schemes Behind all the complex hypothetical machinery to move planets through the sky lay a simple aim to predict the positions of planets and the sun and Moon in the foreseeable future in order to cast horoscope, make forecasts and construct a calendar. In achieving these aims, it, did not, matter that the […]
Pluto is the second smallest dwarf planet in the Solar System. Pluto was originally classified as a major planet but as the years passed, Pluto was then considered as one of the largest members of the distinct dwarf planets called the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is the home of the distinct and small planets. […]
There are 8 major planets in the solar system and they have a few things in common. In the order of increasing distance from the sun, these planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. They all directly orbit the Sun and they have mass that don’t go below 38% of Earth’s mass. […]
Mars has no rings. Using comparative analysis, it should not have one since it has a solid structure just like the Earth. The only planets in the solar system known to possess rings are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. All are considered the outer and giant planets. Unlike Mars, their main compositions include ice and […]
Jupiter was not named after Zeus, the god of all legendary Greek gods, for nothing. He is considered king when it comes to size among all the planets in the Solar System. It is an enormously huge and compact ball of cloud made up of mostly hydrogen and helium. It is incredibly massive that the […]
Mars have two satellites, Phobos and Deimos. These moons are irregularly shaped and much smaller than the Earth’s Moon. They were possibly not captured in the same way the Earth’s Moon was. They are thought to be asteroids or rubbles from a collision, which were eventually captured by Mar’s gravitational draw.Since they are too small […]
No other planet has mystified humans more than Mars. Earthlings have not set foot on it yet but stories about it have been told, published, and even inspired movies. It was named after the Roman god of war ‘Ares’, probably years after it was first sighted by a human eye. Who did and when it […]
Neptune possesses a set of five rings. William Lassell was the first to have thought of it but the idea was not further explored. The first official detection was made in 1983 during a stellar occultation from Earth. Exploration was then initiated by Voyager 2 in 1989 and images made by the explorers confirmed the […]
Mars was named after the ancient Roman god of war ‘Ares’ (AIR eez) and it is believed that Romans and Greeks came up with the name because of the planet’s apparent color, which is ‘red’. It is the fourth planet from the sun and one of Earth’s an-orbit-away neighbors. Among the planets, it’s been the […]
In many ways, Neptune (the 8th planet) and Uranus (the7th planet) are considered twins. They are nearly identical in size and structure. Neptune is 17times the mass of earth while Uranus is about 15. While at first glance, Neptune and Uranus appear to be smaller versions of Saturn and Uranus, they are poles apart from […]