Since the twentieth century space actively investigated people.Although the ancient well enough aware of the heavenly bodies, planets, comets.Celestial objects are always attracted the attention of man.
About 4.5 billion years ago formed a system in which the Earth - Sun.The main object of the system - the star of the sun.Approximately 99% of the total mass of the system falls on the star.And only 1% came from the rest of the world and objects.At the same time the remaining 99% of its mass - is the giant planets.
system belongs to the giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.Jupiter - the largest planet.Its mass is about 318 times the mass of Earth.And if you put together the rest of the planet, its mass exceeds the mass of the planet is 2.5 times.It is characterized by two main components: hydrogen and helium.Jupiter is famous for a large number of satellites.They had 65. And the largest, Ganymede, is much more than the planet Mercury.Also, the satellites of Jupiter are similar in some respects to the terrestrial planets.
Saturn ring system is well recognized.It occupies the second place in the group, "the giant planets."At 95 times the mass of Earth.On the composition of the planet resembles Jupiter, but has very little density, which is similar to the density of water.Saturn has 62 satellites.Titan - the only moon in the solar system that has a substantial atmosphere.
third largest planet - Uranus, from the outer planets it is the easiest.Its mass is 14 times greater than Earth's.It is noteworthy that Uranus revolves around the Sun "on the side."He is like rolling along its orbit.It emits a huge amount of heat into space, despite the fact that the core is cooler than the other gas giants.It has 27 satellites.
next largest, but not the mass, the planet - Neptune.The mass of Neptune is 17 Earth masses.It is more compact, but it does not emit so much heat into space, such as, for example, or a Jupiter, Saturn.Neptune 13 satellites (known to science).The largest - Triton.On it are geysers of liquid nitrogen.Triton moves in the opposite direction and is accompanied by asteroids.
giant planets have their own peculiarities.The time of their revolution around its axis is not more than eighteen hours.And they rotate unevenly - layers.The fastest times of the equator rotates.This circumstance is due to the fact that these planets are not solid, and they are compressed at the poles is much denser.Basis of Jupiter and Saturn - helium and hydrogen, Uranus and Neptune contain ammonia, water and methane.
giant planets: interesting facts
1. Gas giant - a planet without a surface.Gases sealed their atmospheres to the center, turning into liquid.
2. At the heart of the Giants has a dense core, which, according to scientists, contains hydrogen with metallic properties.This hydrogen-conductive, whereby the planet have a magnetic field.
3. Almost all natural satellites of the solar system planets belong to this group.
4. All the planets have rings of this group.But Saturn has a pronounced ring, the others, they are minor and subtle.
