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Planets

Planets
Planets: The planet count in our solar system has gone as high as 15 before new discoveries prompted a fine tuning of the definition of a planet. The most recent change was in 2006 when scientists reclassified Pluto as a new kind of object - a dwarf planet. Dwarf Planets: This new class of worlds helps us categorize objects that orbit the Sun but aren't quite the same as the rocky planets and gas giants in our solar system. Moons: This count includes only the moons orbiting the eight planets in our solar system. Asteroids: New asteroids are discovered on an almost daily basis. Comets: Orbiting spacecraft such as SOHO have raised this tally in recent years by catching the comets as they plunge toward the Sun - and sometimes vaporize. Related:  Space the final frontier (learn more about space and technology)Universe

The Nine Planets Solar System Tour Planet The planets were thought by Ptolemy to orbit Earth in deferent and epicycle motions. Although the idea that the planets orbited the Sun had been suggested many times, it was not until the 17th century that this view was supported by evidence from the first telescopic astronomical observations, performed by Galileo Galilei. By careful analysis of the observation data, Johannes Kepler found the planets' orbits were not circular but elliptical. History Printed rendition of a geocentric cosmological model from Cosmographia, Antwerp, 1539 The idea of planets has evolved over its history, from the divine wandering stars of antiquity to the earthly objects of the scientific age. The five classical planets, being visible to the naked eye, have been known since ancient times and have had a significant impact on mythology, religious cosmology, and ancient astronomy. Babylon Greco-Roman astronomy The ancient Greeks initially did not attach as much significance to the planets as the Babylonians. India

The Solar System - Astronomy For Kids - KidsAstronomy.com Our solar neighborhood is an exciting place. The Solar System is full of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, minor planets, and many other exciting objects. Learn about Io, the explosive moon that orbits the planet Jupiter, or explore the gigantic canyons and deserts on Mars. What Is The Solar System? The Solar System is made up of all the planets that orbit our Sun. In addition to planets, the Solar System also consists of moons, comets, asteroids, minor planets, and dust and gas. Everything in the Solar System orbits or revolves around the Sun. How Did The Solar System form? This is an important question, and one that is difficult for scientists to understand. Scientists believe that the Solar System evolved from a giant cloud of dust and gas. At the center of this spinning cloud, a small star began to form. Further away from the center of this mass where the star was forming, there were smaller clumps of dust and gas that were also collapsing. A Great Storm Beyond The Oort Cloud

Olympic Games Facts for Kids One of the most well-known symbols of the Olympics is the five rings. Designed by de Coubertin, the interlocking rings are represented by the colors blue, yellow, black, green, and red. The rings signify the major continents that participate in the Olympics. North and South America are combined as one ring, and the continent of Antarctica is not represented. The interlocking rings are a sign of admiration that nations from around the world can unite without prejudice. The rings appear on the Olympic flag, which has a white background.

Planetary Transits Page Transit of Mercury on 1973 Nov 10. The transit or passage of a planet across the disk of the Sun may be thought of as a special kind of eclipse. As seen from Earth, only transits of the inner planets Mercury and Venus are possible. Planetary transits are far more rare than eclipses of the Sun by the Moon. On the average, there are 13 transits of Mercury each century. At the present time, all transits of Mercury fall within several days of May 08 and November 10. To determine whether a transit of Mercury is visible from a specific geographic location, it is simply a matter of calculating the Sun's altitude and azimuth during each phase of the transit using information tabulated in the Seven Century Catalog of Mercury Transit. In 1716, Edmond Halley published a paper describing exactly how transits could be used to measure the Sun's distance, thereby establishing the absolute scale of the solar system from Kepler's third law. Maor, Eli.

Space Future Planets - Zoom Astronomy Advertisement. EnchantedLearning.com is a user-supported site. As a bonus, site members have access to a banner-ad-free version of the site, with print-friendly pages.Click here to learn more. (Already a member? The Planets (plus the Dwarf Planet Pluto) Our solar system consists of the sun, eight planets, moons, many dwarf planets (or plutoids), an asteroid belt, comets, meteors, and others. The eight planets that orbit the sun are (in order from the sun): Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Easy ways to remember the order of the planets (plus Pluto) are the mnemonics: "My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas" and "My Very Easy Method Just Simplifies Us Naming Planets" The first letter of each of these words represents a planet - in the correct order. The largest planet is Jupiter. The inner planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Generally, the farther from the Sun, the cooler the planet. Density of the Planets The Earth is the densest planet.

Solar System Discovery and exploration Andreas Cellarius's illustration of the Copernican system, from the Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660) For many thousands of years, humanity, with a few notable exceptions, did not recognize the existence of the Solar System. People believed Earth to be stationary at the centre of the universe and categorically different from the divine or ethereal objects that moved through the sky. Although the Greek philosopher Aristarchus of Samos had speculated on a heliocentric reordering of the cosmos,[11] Nicolaus Copernicus was the first to develop a mathematically predictive heliocentric system.[12] His 17th-century successors, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton, developed an understanding of physics that led to the gradual acceptance of the idea that Earth moves around the Sun and that the planets are governed by the same physical laws that governed Earth. Structure and composition The orbits of the bodies in the Solar System to scale (clockwise from top left)

The Australian Bushrangers The Australian Bushrangers Who, What, When, Where Why? The term “Bushranger” has definitely changed over the years. In the very early years, it simply referred to good bush men who possessed the horsemanship, hunting, and survival skills needed for living in the Australian bush, or wild, after they fled Australia’s prison colonies. Now, the term is used to refer to criminals who attacked travelers on the road in the bush. It’s impossible to say just how many bushrangers walked Australia’s bush, although there had to be hundreds. Australia was originally colonized largely by English criminals. Gold Rush The second major contributing factor to bushranging was the Victorian Gold rush that occurred in the 1850s and 1860s. Dress Bushrangers typically dressed in very cheap, rough clothes. Famous Bushrangers Other resources: Activities: Different Australian history and activities, including bushwalker activities. Related Categories

Scientist Claims Our Solar System Evicted A Planet So Earth Could Survive Colorado scientist David Nesvorny was running solar system evolutionary simulations recently when he realized that during 6,000 different simulations the Earth couldn’t survive during the system’s early years based on the current planetary count. Once Nesvorny added another planet to the system however Earth survived as expected. According to his work our solar system at one point had a ninth planet, a gas giant that was nudged out of the system billions of years ago to make room for Earth’s survival. According to the Mother Nature Network “gas giant number five” started off bound together with Saturn and Jupiter and pushed out lighter planets including Neptune and Uranus eventually to be pushed out of the system on its own after a collision with Jupiter. According to his work David said the planet was likely orbiting about 15 times further from the sun than our own planet.

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