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The Outer Planets

Jupiter is the fifth planet away from the sun. It is named after the king of the Roman Gods.  Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It has a diameter of 88,650 miles. Jupiter is one of the gas giants. The surface is made up of liquid hydrogen and below it is liquid metallic hydrogen. The atmosphere is made up of molecular hydrogen. Jupiter has really faint rings that do not turn up in pictures. Jupiter has 16 moons. The biggest of the moons is Ganymede which is bigger than Mercury. The length of a Jupiter year is 11.86 Earth years yet one of Jupiter’s days is only 9 hours, 50 minutes, and 28 seconds.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the son. It is named after the Roman god of agriculture. The planet got its name from the number of rings that go around the planet.  The diameter of Saturn is 74732 miles. Saturn is another gas giant. It is less dense than water. The surface contains hydrogen and helium, but mostly liquid hydrogen. The atmosphere is hydrogen. Saturn has 18 discovered moons, but may have 12 moons that have not been discovered yet. The biggest moon is Titan. The length of a Saturn year is 29.42 Earth years.

Uranus is the seventh planet away from the sun. It got its name from the Greek god of the heavens. The diameter of Uranus is 31693 miles. The surface is covered in an ocean of hydrogen, but under this there is water. The atmosphere is hydrogen and methane. Uranus also has rings around the planet. Uranus has 15 moons. Uranus orbits around the sun on its side. The length of a Uranus year is 83.75 Earth years.

Neptune is the eighth planet away from the sun. It got its name from the Roman god of the sea. It got this name because of the color of the planet. The diameter is 30707 miles. The surface is made up of liquid hydrogen and helium. The atmosphere is hydrogen and methane. Neptune has very faint rings. There are 8 moons that go around Neptune. The biggest is Triton. The weird thing is that Neptune rotates in one direction while Triton moves around Neptune in the opposite direction. The length of a Neptune year is 164.73 Earth years.

Pluto is the last planet in the solar system. It is named after the Roman god of the underworld. It received this name because it is enclosed in darkness from being so far from the sun. Pluto is the smallest in the solar system with a diameter of 1426 miles. The surface is mostly rock and methane. The atmosphere is frozen nitrogen and carbon monoxide. Pluto has one moon called Charon, which is half the size of Pluto. Pluto has a non-circular orbit. The length of a Pluto year is 248 Earth years.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Thank you for viewing my site. If there are any questions please refer to the following webpages:

 

“The Planets after Formation” http://www.ciw.edu/akir/Seminar/seminar2.html

 

NASA’s official website: www.nasa.gov/

 

 

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To view information on the inner planets click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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