Planets

The Sun

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. It is also referred to as the "Red Planet" because of its reddish appearance, due to iron oxide prevalent on its surface.

Names

The names for the planets in the Western world are derived from the naming practices of the Romans, which ultimately derive from those of the Greeks and the Babylonians

8 planets

In order of their distances from the Sun, the eight planets are:

1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
5. Jupiter
6. Saturn
7. Uranus
8. Neptune

Two types of planet

By admin ~ March 16th, 2009. Filed under: astronomy, planets.

Planets are generally divided into two main types: large, low-density gas giants, and smaller, rocky terrestrials. As of February 2009, there are 342 known extrasolar planets, ranging from the size of gas giants to that of terrestrial planets

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Music

The orchestral suite The Planets is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the British composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916.

Gas Giant

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant, along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Together, these four planets are sometimes referred to as the Jovian planets.

Celebrating the International Year of Astronomy