We are aware that the solar system consists of the Sun, and the eight planets namely Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune along with the moons of these 8 planets. It also consists of smaller bodies in the form of meteoroids and asteroids. Pluto was earlier considered a planet but lately, this has been announced as a dwarf planet. You must be curious about the whole solar system which in itself is huge. Do not worry a bit, in this article we will answer some of the interesting questions like what is difference between star and planet, what are the main types of planets, how do planets move, and many more. So, let’s begin.
1. How are Planets formed?
A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The satisfactory concept of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a young protostar orbited through a protoplanetary disk. Planets develop on this disk through the slow accumulation of fabric pushed through gravity, a manner called accretion.
The Solar System has as a minimum 8 planets: the terrestrial planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, and the massive planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. All of them own their own atmosphere, although that of Mercury is tenuous. (See What is the Color of Each Planet?)
2. What are Two Main Types of Planets?
Planets are normally divided into groups: the terrestrial and the giant planets. The terrestrial planets are the 4 internal planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are normally small in size (approximately the scale of the Earth) and are predominantly rocky in composition.
The massive planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These 4 are the most important planets within the Solar System. They are wealthy in hydrogen ice and gases, usually have greater satellites than the terrestrial planets, and feature rings.
Pluto, is taken into consideration as a dwarf planet and does not falls into any of these categories.
3. How do Planets move?
All the planets move around the sun. The interesting part is that all of them move in the same direction and also in the same plane except for Venus and Uranus. The gravity of the sun keeps pulling the planets to a fixed orbit around it. The planets move in a counterclockwise direction. Check out What is the Third Planet closest to the Sun?
4. What is Difference between Star and Planet?
Here we will tell you what is difference between star and planet:
| Stars | Planets |
| They have a very high temperature. | They have a relatively low temperature when compared to stars. |
| They have a distinctive effect of twinkling in the sky. | Planets do not twinkle or exhibit a twinkling effect, unlike stars. |
| They consist of matter like Helium, Hydrogen, and other light elements. | Planets on the other hand contain all the 3 forms of matter, that is solid, liquid, and gas or a combination. |
5. Are Stars Planets?
No, stars are not planets. This has been explained above in the answer to the question of what is difference between star and planet. (Also read Where is the Ending Point of Earth?)
6. Are Stars Bigger than Planets?
In reality, stars are much bigger than planets. To understand this, let’s take an example. We know that the sun is a star and the earth is a planet. The sun is 109 times bigger than planet Earth. It has a diameter of 1,392,000 km. Now, imagine how big it is. It is said that 1.13 million of Earth are needed to fill the volume of the Sun.
