Many people gaze into the night sky and are amazed by the vast nothingness of space. On the other hand, “nothing” isn’t a word that would come close to being able to describe what is out there. We call our celestial neighborhood the solar system and right in the heart of it is the Sun. The sun is an immense ball composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. It is the closest star to the Earth and is the energy source keeping the solar system alive. It is the largest object in the solar system with a diameter about 109 times that of the earth.

The first planet, closest to the sun, is Mercury. After the recent downgrade of Pluto, Mercury is not the smallest planet in our solar system. It is as dull as the get; Mercury has no atmosphere and no satellites. Mercury is one of the four terrestrial planets in our solar system and has the second highest density in our solar system. Being close to the sun, you would expect Mercury to have very high temperatures but in fact, the temperature varies. At the sub-solar point, the place where the sun is directly overhead may reach temperatures of up to 800°F and the bottom of craters close to the poles can reach -290°F.

As we travel outward the next planet we reach is Venus. Aside from the moon, it is the brightest object in the night sky. Venus is also a terrestrial planet and it is sometimes called Earth’s “sister planet”, for the two are similar in size, gravity, and bulk composition. Venus is covered with a thick layer of highly reflective clouds of carbon dioxide, preventing its surface from being easily seen. Venus has no moon. Through 20 years of carefully mapping Venus’s surface, it has determined that there is a lot of volcanic activity on the surface and that it too, just like earth, undergoes chapters of plate tectonics.

Further from the sun than Venus, is out home planet Earth. Earth is the only known planet in the solar system that has liquid water, thought to be essential for life. Earth has a magnetic field that, together with a primarily nitrogen and oxygen atmosphere, protects the surface from UV radiation that is harmful to life. The atmosphere also serves as a shield that causes smaller meteors to burn up before they strike the surface. Earth, like Venus and Mercury, is a terrestrial on which the land is able to harbor plants. Its one satellite is the Moon.

The last terrestrial planet is the “red planet”, Mars. Its two satellites, Phobos and Deimos, are thought to be captured asteroids. It has a thin atmosphere and its features include polar ice caps, volcanoes, valleys and even deserts.

Between Mars and Jupiter is where the orbits of most asteroids are, called the asteroid belt. The asteroids sometimes escape Jupiter’s gravity and wander around space, some heading for earth. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are considered gas giants because of their immense size and the fact that they are composed of gasses; having no solid surface. Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in the night sky. It has 63 known satellites most of them small captured asteroids as small as one kilometer in diameter.

The next gas giant is Saturn which is known for the rings around the planet. Saturn is the second-largest planet in the Solar System after Jupiter. The planet Saturn is made up of hydrogen, with some helium and trace elements. The interior consists of a small core of rock and ice, surrounded a thick layer of metallic hydrogen and a gaseous outer layer. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/hr! Saturn has rings consisting mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust. There are at least 57 moons, with Titan being the largest. Titan is the only moon in the solar system that has a significant atmosphere

The next planet as we move along Uranus which is the first planet to be discovered in the modern time. Mercury through Saturn has been known since the ancient times because they can be seen by the naked eye. In fact, a telescope was used to discover this planet in 1781. Uranus’s atmosphere is 83 percent hydrogen, 15 percent helium. The interior is richer in heavier elements, most likely compounds of oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, as well as rocky materials. This is very different to Jupiter and Saturn which are mostly hydrogen and helium. Uranus has a faint system of rings.

Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun and like the previous gas giants is composed of hydrogen and helium although the methane in its atmosphere gives it its blue color. Neptune has the strongest recorded winds in the solar system which reach up to 2,100 km/hr. Neptune has 13 known moons with triton being the largest and with the advancements of technology, more planets and moons will undoubtedly be discovered.