The solar system has eight known planets which include, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. There are also dwarf planets which include Pluto, Ceres, Haumea, Makemake and Eris. There are some interesting facts about these planets, some of which you might already know. Below is a list of some of these facts per planet.

Mercury

  • Mercury is the closest planet to our star - the Sun.
  • It is the smallest planet in the solar system
  • It has the highest range of fluctuation in temperature. 450°C during the day and -170°C at night.
  • It does not have any moon
  • The Iron core of Mercury takes up about 75% of the planet's radius.
  • Though the closest planet to the sun, it is not the hottest planet in the solar system

Venus

  • Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system due to it's thick atmosphere
  • Venus is the second brightest object in the solar system after the Sun.
  • The atmospheric pressure on Venus is a whooping 92 times that on earth.
  • Venus was referred to as the morning star and also the evening star.
  • Venus has no moon
  • There is green house effect on Venus making it have very high temperatures

Earth

  • Earth is the only known planet so far to support life with thousands of species.
  • The only planet with liquid flowing water.
  • The only planet so far with free uncombined oxygen

Mars

  • Sunsets on mars are blue
  • Pieces of Mars have been found on Earth.
  • The tallest mountain in the solar system is on mars -Olympus Mons
  • Mars has two moons Deimos and Phobos
  • Temperatures on Mars never exceed 20°C

Jupiter

  • Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system -It is 11 times larger than Earth and 2.5 times larger than all the other planets in the solar system combined.
  • Jupiter is a gas giant and has no true surface.
  • Jupiter has the largest Ocean in the solar system made of liquid hydrogen.
  • Jupiter has the shortest day in the solar system of about 10hrs
  • Ganymede, Jupiter's moon is the largest in the solar system -This moon is larger than planet Mercury
  • Jupiter has the largest gravity due to it's size.
  • Jupiter has 53 confirmed moons
  • It has four rings

Saturn

  • Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system
  • Saturn is adorned by thousands of beautiful ringlets
  • It is the flattest planet
  • It has more moons than any other of the other planets in the solar system with 53 known moons including Titan, Enceladus, Rhea and 29 provisional moons.
  • It's the fifth brightest object in the solar system
  • About every 29.5 years, Saturn appears ringless. (It's an optical illusion).

Uranus

  • Uranus is an ice giant and is the coldest planet in the solar system
  • Uranus rotates on it's side
  • It was the first planet to be discovered using a telescope.
  • Uranus has 13 rings
  • There are 27 known moons on Uranus

Neptune

  • Neptune is the windiest planet with winds going to a speed of upto 2000km/h
  • There are 6 rings on Neptune
  • Neptune has the second largest gravity.
  • Neptune has 14 moons

Dwarf planets

The Dwarf planets include Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris. There are also interesting facts about these dwarf planets, one of them being that they are Dwarf planets!

Ceres

  • It is the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system. It is between Mars and Jupiter
  • Ceres is the smallest dwarf planet
  • Ceres has no moons
  • It is also the closest dwarf planet to the sun

Pluto

  • It is the largest dwarf planet, infact it was once considered a planet

Haumea

  • It is the least spherical planet, has an oblong shape

Makemake

  • Makemake is the second largest dwarf planet after pluto

Eris

  • Eris is the most distant dwarf planet in our solar system