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The Outer Solar System |
The outer planets include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. They are separated from the inner planets by a large asteroid belt. They are also much larger than the inner planets and rotate very rapidly. Most of them have a small solid core surrounded by a thick liquid and a thick gaseous atmosphere.
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and has more than 60 satellites or moons. Saturn is the second-largest planet and is noted for its seven major rings made of particles of all sizes. Uranus is the third-largest planet and is unusual because its axis of rotation is tilted relative to its orbit. Neptune has an atmosphere composed of gases that give it a blue color and has the strongest winds of any planet. Pluto is the smallest planet and is so different from other planets that some scientists would not even classify it as a planet.
The solar system also contains many other bodies in it. Comets are balls of ice and rock that orbit the Sun. They come from the Kuiper Belt in a region even further away than Pluto’s orbit. Some comets orbit the Sun in less than 200 years, others take much longer. Meteoroids are small asteroids that come from material ejected by passing comets. When a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere it is called a meteor. Meteors usually burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. Any part that reaches the Earth’s surface is called a meteorite.
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