Interesting facts about the solar system. Investigation of the planets of the solar system

Perhaps, everyone knows that the piece of the Universe that sheltered us is called the Solar System. The hot star, together with the surrounding planets, began its formation about 4.6 billion years ago. Then there was a gravitational collapse of a part of the molecular interstellar cloud. The center of collapse, where most of the matter has accumulated, later became the Sun, and the protoplanetary cloud surrounding it gave rise to all other objects.

Information about the solar system was originally collected only during the observation of the night sky. With the improvement of telescopes and other instruments, scientists learned more and more about the outer space surrounding us. However, all the most interesting facts about the solar system were obtained only after the beginning of the space era - in the 60s of the last century.

Composition

The central object of our piece of the universe is the Sun. Around it are eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Next to the latter are the so-called Trans-Neptunian objects, including Pluto, devoid of the status of the planet in 2006. He and several other cosmic bodies were carried to small planets. The eight main objects after the Sun are divided into two categories: the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and the huge planets of the solar system, interesting facts about which begin with the fact that they are almost entirely composed of gas. These include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

Between Mars and Jupiter lies the Asteroid belt, where a lot of asteroids and small planets of irregular shape are located. Behind the orbit of Neptune lies the Kuiper belt and the scattered disk associated with it. The asteroid belt basically contains objects consisting of rocks and metals, while the Kuiper Belt is filled with bodies of ice of various origins. The objects of the scattered disk also have, for the most part, an ice composition.

The sun

Interesting facts about the solar system should start to tell from its center. A gigantic red-hot ball with an internal temperature of over 15 million degrees concentrated in itself more than 99% of the mass of the entire system. The sun belongs to the third generation of stars, it is located approximately in the middle of its life cycle. Its core is the place of continuous thermonuclear reactions, as a result of which hydrogen turns into helium. The same process leads to the formation of a huge amount of energy, which then falls, among other things, on the Earth.

Future

After about 1.1 billion years, the Sun will spend most of the hydrogen fuel, its surface will be heated up as much as possible. At this time, most likely, the whole life will disappear on the Earth. Conditions will allow only organisms to survive in the depths of the ocean. When the Sun's age is 12.2 billion years, it will turn into a red giant. The outer layers of the star thus reach the Earth's orbit. At this time our planet will either move to a more distant orbit, or it will be absorbed.

In the next stage of development, the Sun will lose its outer shell, which will turn into a planetary nebula with a white dwarf, which is the core of the Sun - the size of the Earth - in the center.

Mercury

As long as the Sun is relatively stable, the exploration of the planets of the solar system will continue. The first large-sized space body, which can be met, if you move away from our star to the outskirts of the system, is Mercury. Nearest to the Sun and at the same time the smallest planet explored the device "Mariner 10", who managed to capture its surface. The study of Mercury is hindered by its proximity to the luminary, so for many years it remained poorly studied. After the "Mariner 10", launched in 1973, Mercury was visited by "Messenger". The spacecraft began its mission in 2003. He flew several times to the planet, and in 2011 became her companion. Thanks to these studies, information about the solar system has expanded significantly.

Today we know that, although Mercury is closest to the Sun, it is not the most hot planet. Venus in this respect is much ahead of him. Mercury does not have a real atmosphere: it is blown away by the solar wind. For the planet, a gas shell with an extremely low pressure is characteristic. The day on Mercury is almost two terrestrial months, with the year lasting 88 days of our planet, that is, less than two Mercurian days.

Venus

Thanks to the flight "Mariner-2" interesting facts about the solar system, on the one hand, have become scanty, and on the other - enriched. Prior to receiving information from this spacecraft, Venus was considered the possessor of a temperate climate and, possibly, of the ocean, the probability of finding life on it was considered. "Mariner 2" dispelled these dreams. Studies of this apparatus, as well as several others, have described a rather unfriendly picture. Under the layer of the atmosphere, mostly consisting of carbon dioxide, and clouds of sulfuric acid, a surface almost heated up to 500 ° C is located. There is no water here and there can not be forms of life known to us. On Venus, even spacecraft can not stand: they melt and burn.

Mars

4 the planet of the solar system and the last of the earth-like is Mars. The red planet has always attracted the attention of scientists, it remains the center of research today. Mars was studied by numerous "Mariners", two "Vikings" and Soviet "Mars". For a long time, astronomers believed to find water on the surface of the Red Planet. Today it is known that once upon a time Mars looked completely different than now, perhaps it had water on it. There is an assumption, according to which the change in the nature of the surface contributed to the collision of Mars with a huge asteroid, leaving a trace in the form of five craters. The result of the disaster was the displacement of the poles of the planet by almost 90º, a significant increase in volcanic activity and movement of lithospheric plates. At the same time, there were also climatic changes. Mars lost water, the atmospheric pressure on the planet decreased significantly, the surface began to resemble a desert.

Jupiter

Large planets of the solar system, or gas giants, are separated from the earth-like Asteroid belt. The nearest of them to the Sun is Jupiter. By its size it surpasses all other planets of our system. The gas giant was studied using Voyager 1 and 2, and Galileo. The latter recorded the fall to the surface of Jupiter of the fragments of Comet Shoemakerov-Levy 9. The event was unique as well as the opportunity to observe it. As a result, scientists were able to obtain not only a number of interesting images, but also some data on the comet and composition of the planet.

The very fall on Jupiter differs from the similar on the cosmic bodies of the terrestrial group. Splinters of even huge size can not leave the crater on the surface: Jupiter is almost entirely composed of gas. The comet was absorbed by the upper layers of the atmosphere, leaving dark traces on the surface, which soon disappeared. It is interesting that Jupiter, due to its size and weight, serves as a kind of protector of the Earth, saving it from various space debris. It is believed that the gas giant played an important role in the emergence of life: any of the debris that fell on Jupiter on Earth could lead to mass extinction. And if such falls occurred often in the early stages of the development of life, perhaps people would not exist until now.

A signal to the brothers by reason

The study of the planets of the solar system and of the whole cosmos is not the last thing to be done in order to find conditions where life may or may have arisen. However, the scale of the universe is such that humanity can not cope with the task and for all the time allotted to it. Therefore, the Voyager devices were equipped with a round aluminum box containing a video disc. It contains information, according to scientists, capable of explaining to representatives of other civilizations, perhaps existing in space, where the Earth is and who it inhabits. The images depict landscapes, the anatomical structure of man, the structure of DNA, scenes from the life of people and animals, recorded sounds: birds singing, the crying of a child, the sound of rain and many others. The disk is provided with coordinates of the solar system with respect to 14 powerful pulsars. The explanations are made with the help of a binary year.

"Voyager 1" in about 2020 will leave the solar system and for many centuries will plow space space. Scientists believe that the discovery by other civilizations of the message of earthlings can occur very soon, at a time when our planet will cease to exist. In this case, a disk with information about people and the Earth is all that remains of humanity in the universe.

A new turn

At the beginning of the 21st century, interest in space research increased significantly. Interesting facts about the solar system continue to accumulate. Expedition to Mars is being equipped , data on gas giants are being refined. Every year the equipment is improved, in particular, new types of engines are developed that will make it possible to fly to more remote areas of space with less fuel. The progress of scientific progress allows us to hope that all the most interesting things about the solar system will soon become a part of our knowledge: we will be able to find evidence of the existence of the Oort cloud, to understand exactly what led to climate change on Mars and what it was before, to study the sun-burned Mercury, Build a base on the moon. The wildest dreams of modern astronomers are even more ambitious than some fantastic films. It is interesting that the achievements of engineering and physics speak of the real possibility of implementing grandiose plans in the future.