Which planet is the largest in the solar system? The largest planets in the solar system

Those who travel, it is known that if you devote to this occupation and all your life, there will still be a scrap, a site or even a huge piece of the Earth left unexplored. It seems that our planet is full of vast expanses. The task of squinting and imagining it all as a whole is felt as impossible. Meanwhile, the Earth is a type of cosmic objects, which can be called "small planets of the solar system." Scientifically, they are designated as planets of the terrestrial group, rather modest by universal scales. Our Earth would seem even more endless if its dimensions approached the parameters of gas giants, which we will discuss below.

Classification

To begin with, let us consider the principle underlying the type of astronomy that the planet divides into. The solar system is delineated by the main asteroid belt into two parts. The first includes Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The second - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, behind them is Pluto and Kuiper belt. The first four - this is the planet of the terrestrial group. In addition to their location, they are united by a structure: they consist of compounds of metals and silicon, they have a core, a mantle and a bark. Earth is the largest planet in the solar system in this group.

The four behind the Asteroid Belt are the so-called gas giants. As is clear from the title, they are huge, much larger than the terrestrial planets . However, the most important difference lies in the composition of the substance that forms such cosmic objects. It is a mixture of gases: hydrogen, helium, ammonia, methane. Such a structure makes the giants fundamentally unlike the Earth and similar planets.

Ninth

As for Pluto, in 2006 it was "degraded" into dwarf planets and attributed to the Kuiper Belt objects, a structure quite far removed from the Earth, which, however, does not yet terminate the solar system. Pluto, according to scientists, does not correspond to one of the points of the accepted definition of the planet: it does not have enough mass to clear its orbit from other bodies. Apparently, at the same time in composition it is close to the bodies of the Kuiper belt, ice blocks formed by frozen methane and nitrogen.

Now in our system there are only eight planets and a few dwarf planets, which will never grow to the "brothers".

Which planet is the largest in the solar system?

Obviously, the most impressive cosmic body should be sought among gas giants. However, the answer to the question "what planet is the largest in the solar system" is known to every schoolboy today. This is Jupiter - the first great giant behind the main belt of asteroids, probably played a role in the appearance of life on Earth, all the time of its existence, protecting it from meteorites.

Shocking Dimensions

Again, it is extremely difficult to understand how huge Jupiter is, if you try to imagine an object that is 1300 times larger than the Earth. To help come a comparison: Jupiter - the planet of the solar system, surpassing our house in size, like a soccer ball pea. Storm, played out in the atmosphere of the giant, is so large that it can cover all the terrestrial planet, except for Mercury, taken together.

It affects not only the size, but also the speed of rotation of Jupiter. It makes one revolution around the axis in just 10 hours, moving at a speed of 45300 km / h. In this case, the giant orbit passes for 12 years. And this too is quite fast, considering how far from the Sun it is (five times farther than the Earth).

The ephemeral surface

Many schoolchildren, having learned what planet in the solar system is the largest, wondered how long it would be possible to walk along it, travel. And these dreams continued until they found out that nobody could ever step onto the surface of the planet. Jupiter is surrounded by an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium in a ratio of 9: 1. It flows smoothly into liquid hydrogen. The boundary between the atmosphere and the surface is essentially not, it is designated conditionally according to the level of pressure.

Clouds and sunspots

If you look at the photographs of Jupiter, it's easy to see that the planet has a "characteristic appearance." The recognizable striped pattern of the upper layers of the atmosphere consists of stable clouds: the light zones alternate with reddish brown belts. Between them wedged powerful atmospheric currents, or in scientific jets. In fact, these are winds of immense power. Their direction either coincides with the movement of the planet, or is opposite to it. Clouds, light and dark, as well as jets are conditionally designated as geographic objects on the equally conventional surface of the gas giant.

The main feature

The surface of Jupiter is characterized by another phenomenon. It's a big red spot. It can be called a special sign of the planet. Similar formations, equally bright and persistent, do not exist on other cosmic objects of the solar system. Scientists suggest that the Great Red Spot is a gigantic storm in the atmosphere. It moves around the planet, changing its longitude, but strictly adhering to the same latitude, for at least the last 350 years. The spot is characterized by changes in size: it is then increased to huge sizes, then reduced by half.

Studies of space vehicles have confirmed the hypothesis of astronomers: A large red spot represents a huge anticyclone, rotating counter-clockwise at a rate of one revolution in six days.

Approximate Giant

On Jupiter there are many interesting processes, but it is worth mentioning about his "brethren". The second planet in size is Saturn. It is unlikely that there will be a person who will not be able to identify him on the image of all objects of the solar system. Its distinctive feature is noticeable rings. By the way, similar formations, as well as satellites, are for all gas giants. The rings of Saturn are best known for their impressiveness. They consist of particles of ice with a small admixture of heavy elements and dust.

Saturn's composition is similar to Jovian: hydrogen, helium, methane, ammonia, various impurities. On the surface of the planet visible from outer space, no more stable formations are formed than on Jupiter. There are much stronger winds raging here.

Ice giants

Next to Saturn is Uranus, then Neptune. Astronomers combine them into a separate subgroup of ice giants, because in their depths there is no metallic hydrogen, characteristic for Jupiter and Saturn, but there is a lot of ice in high-temperature modifications. Perhaps the most unusual characteristic of Uranus is the inclination of its axis. The planet as it lies on its side and therefore the Sun illuminates basically not the equatorial zone, but alternately the North, then the South Pole.

On Neptune, the strongest winds blow. Its surface is characterized by the formation, similar to the Great red spot. It was called the "Big Dark Spot".

So, the answer to the question "what planet is the largest in the solar system" sounds simple: it's Jupiter. Hiding behind this short word is a huge mass, strong winds, a large red spot. It is followed by Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, each in its own way unique, modern astronomy knows about something interesting. The solar system as a whole with all the objects and structures, even in comparison with the giant Jupiter, is huge. And this corner of the universe in many ways remains a mystery to us. A lot of information, including about gas giants, now remains without explanations, some theories require further development. We can confidently say that we still have many discoveries, connected both with the largest planets of the system, and with more modest in size.