There are many unique and interesting features of our Solar System, as it’s home to a wide variety of celestial bodies, including eight planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), dwarf planets (Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Haumea, and Makemake), comets, asteroids, and meteoroids.
Our Solar System has a diverse range of planets, each with its own unique characteristics. For example, Earth is the only known planet in our Solar System that is capable of supporting life as we know it. Mars, on the other hand, is a rocky planet with a thin atmosphere and is known for its reddish appearance and the presence of ancient water-carved valleys.
The Solar System’s planets were aligned on Wednesday night
On Wednesday and Tuesday nights, a rare astronomical event occurred where a number of planets were visible in the sky from Earth, a phenomenon known as a “planet parade.” This event allowed people to see a number of planets, including Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, with the naked eye. With the use of binoculars or a telescope, it was also possible to see Uranus and Neptune, according to CBS News.
Vahé Peroomian, who’s a professor of astronomy and physics from the University of Southern California, explained as the same website quotes:
People should look southward about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset to catch Mercury and Venus before they’re too close to the horizon to observe,
Jupiter, Saturn and Mars will be visible once it gets dark, from southeast to east.
The Solar System is approximately 4.6 billion years old. It is thought to have formed from a cloud of gas and dust that collapsed under its own gravity about 4.6 billion years ago. As the cloud collapsed, it formed a spinning disk of material, and the Sun and planets formed from this disk.
Scientists have been able to determine the age of the Solar System using a variety of techniques, including studying the ages of meteorites and the oldest rocks on Earth, as well as using computer simulations to model the formation of the Solar System.
