The current number of planets in the solar system is 8 planets, and the Earth is the only habitable planet among these planets, and recently another planet was discovered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration “NASA” called Kepler, a small planet very similar to Earth, It was said that it is a habitable planet, as it is similar to Earth by about 70 percent, however, there are some obstacles that may prevent this, including gravity and a breathable atmosphere.
According to international reports, the Earth is the only planet known to have liquid water on its surface, and the solar system consists of eight planets that revolve around the sun, and they are in order from the closest to the sun: “Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune”.
Theories suggest that the solar system formed more than 4 billion years ago from a dense cloud of gas and dust. The collapse of this cloud led to the formation of a solar nebula. As the pressure in the center of the nebula increased, the hydrogen atoms fused with each other and formed helium gas, releasing huge amounts of energy from the birth of the Sun.
Also, other masses were formed from the remnants of this nebula, and they began to attract, collide and coalesce with each other to form other celestial bodies, some of which began to gradually grow to form balls that turned into planets, large moons and dwarf planets, and some of them became asteroids, meteors, comets and small moons.
According to a report on the “Astronomy” website, all these factors led to the contrast of the colors of the planets of the solar system, and let us begin the next narrative of a human journey between the planets of the solar system, which no one may have dreamed of before now.
A day in Attar
Mercury is one of the smallest planets in the solar system. It is slightly larger than the moon and is located close to the sun at a distance of 58 million km. Mercury orbits in an elliptical (oval) orbit and its rotation is very slow, so that one day on Mercury is equivalent to approximately 59 days on Earth According to a report by Aragic.
The temperature on the sunny side will be 430°C (800°F) while landing on it. On its dark side, temperatures will be as low as -180 degrees Celsius (-290 degrees Fahrenheit), so the best solution is to land somewhere comfortable in between.
However, it cannot last for long. Mercury’s atmosphere is composed of oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium and potassium. Mostly so it can hold no more than two minutes.
day in flower
Venus is often thought of as Earth’s twin planet, because the size and composition between them is similar, so it’s no wonder that NASA, the Soviet space program, the European Space Agency, and others are sending several spacecraft to explore the second closest planet to the sun.
Venus is also the hottest planet in the group, with a surface temperature of 475 degrees Celsius (900 degrees Fahrenheit). One day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days.
Indeed, unless one has an incredibly powerful spacecraft, one cannot get very close to the surface, since Venus’s atmosphere is a thick layer of heat and toxins; It contains 154,000 times more carbon than the Earth’s atmosphere, and Venus is surrounded by yellowish clouds of sulfuric acid.
It can be said that the surface of Venus is like a greenhouse of toxins and heat that will burn any body on it, so there is no survival for one second on this planet.
A day on Mars and Jupiter
Within the same context, so far there is no evidence of life on Mars. In fact, NASA aspires to send humans to it by 2030 and SpaceX wants to get there sooner, with plans to have people there by 2024.
But can one stay there for that long, since Mars’ atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide, argon, nitrogen, and a little oxygen and water vapor; That is, breathing is impossible, and its gravity represents 38 percent of the Earth’s gravity. In addition, the surface of Mars is cold, with a temperature of -62 degrees Celsius (-80 degrees Fahrenheit).
Also, the temperatures are too low, the air is not breathable, and gravity is never comfortable, and this combination will make a person survive for only a few minutes and no more.
As for Jupiter, it is one of the largest planets in the solar system, and it is never possible to land on Jupiter’s surface, because it is a gas giant, meaning that it does not contain a solid Earth on its surface.
The mass of Jupiter is twice the mass of the planets of the group combined, and its atmosphere consists of hydrogen and helium, and its weather is filled with cold clouds and its winds consist of ammonia and water.
Jupiter is surrounded by dozens of moons. It also contains several rings, but unlike Saturn’s famous rings, Jupiter’s rings are very faint, consisting of dust rather than ice.
It is a planet that rotates very quickly, and one day in it lasts only 10 hours of the time of the Earth. Its atmosphere is characterized by strong jet streams. In addition, on its surface there is what is known as the Great Red Spot, which is actually a storm larger than Earth.
If it landed on Jupiter’s surface, the atmosphere would be at a whopping 49 km/sec (30 miles/sec). As the descent continues, the atmosphere will become more dense and turbulent. One would feel like hitting a wall again and again, to the point where the pressure is deadly, and temperatures average -145 degrees Celsius (-229 degrees Fahrenheit), so living on this planet for one second is next to impossible.
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A day on Saturn and Uranus
Saturn is a gaseous planet without a solid surface, and the sixth planet of the solar system. It has dozens of moons revolving around it, and it revolves around itself quickly and its day lasts about 10.7 hours of the time of the Earth. As for landing on its surface, it is a matter of suicide, as there are deadly winds of up to 1,800 km/h (1118 mph). And its atmosphere is composed of hydrogen and helium, that is, it is not breathable, for these reasons Saturn is not viable at all.
As for the planet Uranus, nicknamed the ice giant, the day of Uranus lasts about 17 hours than the Earth’s time. Extremely cold and windy, this icy giant is surrounded by 13 faint rings and 27 small moons, rotating about 90 degrees from the plane of its orbit. This unique tilt makes Uranus appear to be spinning on its side, revolving around the sun like a rolling ball.
Its atmosphere is not breathable and consists of hydrogen, helium, and methane, which gives the planet its distinctive blue-green color. And there are some dangers such as mysterious X-ray emissions and deadly diamond rain. Which is made up of carbon atoms. But the enormous pressure in it kills one in less than a second.
A day on Neptune
The last planet of the solar system, which is a dark cold dark planet, and the farthest from the sun, and it is the only planet that cannot be seen with the naked eye in the solar system.
In 2011, Neptune completed its first orbit for 165 years since its discovery in 1846. Neptune is so far from the sun that noon on its surface will appear to us as a dark twilight, and it shines 900 times stronger than it is on Neptune.
The winds on Neptune are very strong, supersonic, reaching 2,000 km/h (1,200 mph). It is faster than the maximum speed of a fighter plane. So life on this planet is inevitably fatal. The day on Neptune lasts for 16 Earth hours.
Why is Pluto excluded from the group?
The number of planets in the solar system was 9 between 1930-2006, and then the number of planets increased to 8 due to the discovery of Pluto in 1930, when it was added to the solar system, then it was removed from the main group and joined to another group.
The International Astronomical Union took a decision to exclude Pluto from the planets of the solar system in 2006, and considered it a dwarf planet; This is because not all of the terms used in the International Astronomical Union apply to it.
According to press reports, Pluto met the standards of the International Astronomical Union for full-sized planets, except for its ability to survey the vicinity of it to clear its path and remove everything that hinders it, which made it classified as a dwarf planet. There are 5 planets described as dwarfs: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.
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