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Planets

By the current count of astronomers, our solar system includes 8 planets and 5 dwarf planets. The planets were formed during the process of solar system formation, when clumps began to form in the disk of gas and dusk rotating about our young Sun. Eventually, only the planets and other small bodies in the solar system remained. The four rocky planets at the center of the solar system Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, are known as the inner planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are all composed primarily of gas and are known as the outer planets. Find out more about the planets through the links below.

A view of the Earth as seen by the <a href="/space_missions/apollo17.html&dev=1">Apollo
17</a> crew
while traveling to the
<a href="/earth/moons_and_rings.html&dev=1">Moon</a> on
December 7, 1972. Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula are
visible, and you can barely make out the
<a href="/earth/polar/antarctica.html&dev=1">Antarctic</a>,
shrouded in the heavy
<a href="/earth/Atmosphere/cloud.html&dev=1">cloud</a> cover
in the southern hemisphere.
Arching cloud patterns show the presence of <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/front.html&dev=1">weather
fronts</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA/Apollo 17.</em></small></p>

Have you ever seen the <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/aurora.html&dev=1">Southern or Northern Lights</a>? Earth isn't the only planet that puts on these beautiful light shows, which are also called the "<a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/aurora.html&dev=1">aurora</a>". Aurora have been seen at both <a href="/saturn/saturn_polar_regions.html&dev=1">poles of Saturn</a>, too, as well as at the poles of <a href="/jupiter/magnetosphere/jupiter_aurora.html&dev=1">Jupiter</a>. These "<a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/tour/tour_earth_magnetosphere_09.html&dev=1">curtains of light</a>" sometimes rise 1,200 miles (2,000 km) above the <a href="/saturn/atmosphere/S_clouds_overview.html&dev=1">cloud tops</a> near Saturn's poles. The <a href="/space_missions/HST.html&dev=1">Hubble Space Telescope</a> took this picture in 2004.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA, ESA, J. Clarke (Boston University), and Z. Levay (STScI)</em></small></p>

Neptune's <a href="/neptune/lower_atmosphere.html&dev=1">atmosphere</a> shows
a striped pattern of
<a href="/neptune/atmosphere/N_clouds_overview.html&dev=1">clouds</a>.
This cloud pattern is very similar to that of
<a href="/jupiter/jupiter.html&dev=1">Jupiter</a> and
<a href="/saturn/saturn.html&dev=1">Saturn</a>.
Neptune even has a <a href="/neptune/atmosphere/N_clouds_GDS.html&dev=1">Great Dark
Spot</a> similar
to Jupiter's <a href="/jupiter/atmosphere/J_clouds_GRS.html&dev=1">Great
Red Spot</a>.
The Great Dark Spot of Neptune is thought to be a hole, similar to the hole
in the <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/ozone_layer.html&dev=1">ozone layer on
Earth</a>,
in the <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/methane.html&dev=1">methane</a> cloud
deck of Neptune.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>

<a href="/mercury/mercury.html&dev=1">Mercury</a>, the innermost planet of the solar system, is a little bigger than the Earth's Moon. The <a href="/mercury/Interior_Surface/Surface/surface_overview.html&dev=1">surface</a> of the planet is covered with craters, like the Moon, but temperatures there can reach over 800°F because Mercury is so close to the Sun and rotates so slowly. This picture was taken by the <a href="/space_missions/robotic/messenger/messenger.html&dev=1">MESSENGER spacecraft</a> in October 2008.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington.</em></small></p>

New observations by the MESSENGER spacecraft provide support for the hypothesis that Mercury harbors abundant water ice and other frozen volatile materials in its permanently shadowed (shown in red) polar craters. Areas where polar deposits of ice imaged by Earth-based radar are shown in yellow.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Arecibo Observatory</em></small></p>

This historic image is the first ever taken from a spacecraft in orbit about <a href="/mercury/mercury.html&dev=1">Mercury</a>, the innermost planet of the solar system. Taken on 3/29/2011 by <a href="/space_missions/robotic/messenger/messenger.html&dev=1">MESSENGER</a>, it shows numerous craters across the <a href="/mercury/Interior_Surface/Surface/surface_overview.html&dev=1">surface</a> of the planet. Temperatures there can reach over 800°F because Mercury is so close to the Sun and rotates so slowly. MESSENGER entered orbit around Mercury earlier in March 2011.<p><small><em>NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington</em></small></p>

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Explore Planets

What is a Planet?

Do you know what a planet is? If so, you are doing better than professional astronomers! Right ...Read more

Mercury

Mercury, the planet nearest the Sun, is the second smallest planet in the solar system. Only ...Read more

Venus

Fair but inhospitable Venus, a "Sister" planet to the Earth that is very different from our ...Read more

Earth

Earth, our home planet, is a beautiful blue and white ball when seen from space. ...Read more

Mars

Mars, Earth's outer neighbor, is the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars' bright appearance and ...Read more

Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. When approached from afar, its fantastic ...Read more

Saturn

Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, has the most spectacular set of rings in the solar system. ...Read more

Uranus

Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun, has its spin axis almost in the plane of its orbit ...Read more

Neptune

Neptune, the eighth and furthest planet from the Sun, is a very cold place. Its bluish color ...Read more

Dwarf Planets

In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved a new classification scheme for ...Read more

More about Planets

Global locations of visitors using this page right now

Planets Around Other Stars
Tours

Historical Events

3/13 William Herschel discovered Uranus on this date in 1781 Details

3/13 F5 tornado hits Hesston and Goessel, Kansas, in 1990, part of a major Central US tornado outbreak

3/14 Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer, born on this date in 1835 Details

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Did you know?

Did you know that there are no seasons on Venus?

Did you know that Saturn has a strange hexagon shaped cloud structure at its north pole?

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Chinook

xChinook : A dry down-slope wind which occurs on the downwind side of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind which results from the subsequent (adiabatic) warming of air which has dropped most of its moisture on windward slopes.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

“Missing” Heat May Affect Future Climate Change

As greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere, more of the energy that gets to Earth from the Sun sticks around the planet. This means that the amount of energy coming to Earth is greater than the amount...Read more

Science Blogs

Perspectives on Earth and Space Science Education

Real Climate: climate science from climate scientists

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