Four Outer Planets Fun Facts To Take You On An Astronomy Trip

Take an astronomy trip among the stars with these fun facts about four outer planets.You may be familiar with the mnemonic ‘My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles’, or ‘My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas’, being used to remembering the names of all planets in our solar system (Here considering the exception of Pluto as it is a dwarf planet). But did you know that further these planets are distinguished as inner and outer planets, where the four planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are considered as four inner planets and the remaining four, are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are considered as four outer planets of our solar system?Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune comprise our solar system’s gas giants. These four large planets are called the Jovian planets after Jupiter, located in the outer reaches of the solar system, past Mars and the asteroid belt.Throughout the solar system, you can see bits and pieces of rock left over from the dawn of the solar system. Planetoids or asteroids, also known as star-like objects, occupy the vast majority of this space between Mars and Jupiter in a region known as the main asteroid belt.The main asteroid belt is more than twice as far from the Sun as the Earth is. There are several million asteroids in the belt. They typically range in size from boulders to a few thousand feet in diameter. Some are considerably larger than others, however.There are eight planets in the solar system and then numerous dwarf planets and moons. Yes, eight planets only as Pluto is no longer regarded as a planet. So, the eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. All these planets orbit around the soon and the moons orbit these planets.Ancient astronomers observed the Sun, Moon, and brightest planets with their naked eyes, and their observations and calculations of their movements led to the beginning of astronomy. A great deal of information is available today about the motions, properties, and compositions of the planets and smaller bodies, and observational instruments are now extending much beyond the solar system to other galaxies and beyond the known universe. Nonetheless, the solar system and its immediate outer boundaries still represent the limits of our physical reach, as well as the center of our theoretical understanding of the universe.After reading about these four planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and how a planet’s orbit affects its seasons, also check facts around a new planet found and around which planet does Ganymede orbit?Common Facts About The Four Outer PlanetsJupiter was named after the king of the gods of Roman mythology. There is nothing comparable to the size of the planet, the largest body in the solar system besides the Sun.Although the planet resembles a star, it has not grown large enough to start burning. There are rings surrounding Jupiter, but they are very faint and hard to distinguish.It lacks a true surface because it is a gas giant. Approximately 90% of its composition is hydrogen, while 10% is helium.Saturn has been named after the god of agriculture in ancient Rome. Cronus is known as the father of Zeus (Jupiter) in ancient Greek mythology. The English word ‘Saturday’ derives from the ancient Greek word Saturn.Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, with the largest ring system in our Solar System.After Jupiter, it is the second-largest planet in the Solar System.Among the planets of the Solar System, Saturn is the oblast. There are more equatorial miles than there are polar miles on the planet. With a telescope, the planet Saturn looks flattened.Uranus is named after the first supreme god of ancient Greek mythology, the ancient Greek God of the heavens. This meant that he was the father of Cronus/Saturn, who in turn was the father of Zeus/Jupiter.Uranus is the third-largest planet in the Solar System and the seventh planet from the Sun. It is the largest ice giant in the Solar System.Most planets rotate from East to West, but Uranus rotates in the opposite direction. Uranus also rotates on its side, which is unusual.The planet Neptune is named after Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. He is also known as Poseidon in Greek mythology. This name probably comes from the planet’s blue appearance.Neptune is the smallest of the gas giants and the fourth largest planet in the Solar System and also the farthest planet from the Sun.Scientific Facts About The Four Outer Planetary BodiesAmong the planets in our Solar System, Jupiter is the largest planet not only amongst the four outer planets but also in the entire Solar System. It is a gas giant which has no surface and is made of different layers of light gases and liquid metals.The radius of Jupiter is almost 11 times the size of Earth. NASA reports to date 79 moons of Jupiter have been found out of which 53 have been named but the remaining 26 are yet to be named.Jupiter is regarded as the major planet of the Solar System which is also pivotal to life on Earth as it acts as a vacuum cleaner that attracts asteroids and space rocks with its gravity and prevents any possible collision with Earth. The core of the planet is formed of helium, hydrogen, and ice. Though, the bulk of the planet is composed of liquid hydrogen which also powers the strong magnetic field. Jupiter is one of the brightest objects in the night sky and can be easily observed with any suitable Earth-based telescope. The clouds in the atmosphere of Jupiter are composed of methane, helium, hydrogen, and ammonia. The four Galilean moons, Io, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa are the biggest moons of Jupiter and were discovered by Galileo in the year 1610.Using no more than binoculars, four of these are big and bright enough to be seen from Earth. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is one of its most notable features. In diameter, it is approximately 139,820 km or 86,880 mi. This persistent anticyclonic storm is situated south of the equator known as the Great Red Spot. Since its first discovery in the 17th century, the red spot has been around for at least 350 years and shows no signs of abating.Saturn is second in the list of huge planets and has a radius nine times larger than the Earth’s. Its rings are the most magnificent feature of the planet, but we do not know how they formed. According to NASA, the planet has 82 moons out of which 53 have been confirmed and named while the other 29 are waiting for their names. A dense core surrounds a ring of helium and hydrogen, much like Jupiter. The planet has a similar atmosphere to Jupiter.Saturn has a density of 0.687 gm/cm3 or 0.024 lb/in3. Compared to water, which has a density of 1 g/cm3 or 0.03 lb/in3, the Earth has a density of 5.52 g/cm3 or 0.20 lb/in3. Therefore, Saturn would actually float like an apple if it could be placed in a large enough pool.Uranus is the third of the outer planets whose radius is four times the radius of the Earth and is an ice giant. What sets Uranus apart from all other planets in the Solar System is that Uranus is tilted on its side and has a retrograde rotation which is only visible on Venus. This is an indication that billions of years ago a massive collision took place between Uranus and another celestial object, resulting in the tilt. Till now, 27 moons of Uranus have been identified and its atmosphere features methane clouds. William Herschel is credited with finding Uranus in the year 1781.Neptune is the last planet of the Solar System and is an ice giant! Yes, now that Pluto is recognized as a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, Neptune is the last known planet of the Solar System. Neptune is almost four times the size of the Earth, like the other planet Uranus, its atmosphere is primarily composed of methane, hydrogen, and helium. There are 14 known moons of Neptune that were discovered after the discovery of the planet in the year 1846. The largest moon of Neptune is Triton, which rotates in the opposite direction to the planet, indicating that it was captured by the planet from the Kuiper Belt most likely.Beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper Belt, of which Pluto is also a part of. This is a region of the Solar System that gets less than 1% of sunlight as compared to Earth. As such the temperatures here are really freezing. This region houses billions of space rocks, asteroids, dwarf planets.Distinguishing Facts Between Inner And Outer PlanetsThe outer planets and the inner planets are the two main types of planets in our Solar System. Compared to planets in the outer Solar System, inner Solar System planets are smaller and rockier, and therefore closer to the Sun. Planets further out are bigger, farther away, and primarily composed of gas.Eight planets make up our Solar System. We know that these planets orbit the Sun. Depending on its location, a planet can be classified as an inner or an outer planet. These two types can be distinguished depending on the planet’s position relative to the Sun.Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus are outer planets. Therefore, Earth, Mercury, and Venus are inner planets since they are closest to the Sun.Planets in the inner system are regarded as terrestrial planets, and planets in the outer system are called gas giants. As far as proximity to the Sun is concerned, Mercury is the closest planet, while Neptune is at the farthest distance.The four inner planets are known as terrestrial planets because they are solid (and, as their names suggest, somewhat similar to Earth - although the term can be inaccurate as they each have vastly different environments). Most of them are composed of heavy metals like iron and nickel. Some inner planets have no moons, while others have a few.Outer planets have more moons, a faster rotation, consisting of gases, lower density, and rings (in Jupiter’s case and Saturn’s case) compared to inner planets, which have a smaller size, a nickel-iron core, and rotate more slowly.An inner planet’s orbit around the Sun takes less time, while an outer planet’s orbit around the Sun takes longer due to its greater distance from the Sun.Due to their closer proximity to the Sun, the inner planets are also warmer than the outer planets.Surprising Facts About The Four Outer PlanetsPlanets outside the Sun are so much larger than planets inside that they account for 99% of the mass of the celestial bodies orbiting our Sun.A number of moons orbit the outer planets, while none or few orbits the inner planets.Jupiter, our Solar System’s largest planet, has a mass more than three hundred times that of Earth.Besides being the largest planet, Jupiter also has the most moons, 63 of which have been identified so far.It’s no wonder that Jupiter is the brightest object in the sky due to its stormy atmosphere. Approximately the size of Earth, the Great Red Spot is a major storm on Jupiter.The Galilean moons of Jupiter are larger in size than the dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres, and Eris. Besides being the largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede is even bigger than Mercury!Among the outer planets, Uranus has the smallest mass, despite being slightly larger than Neptune in size. In fact, the only planet with a sideways rotation is Uranus. Despite a couple of theories, scientists are still unsure why the planet rotates in that way. Some speculate that it suffered a major collision, while others suggest it was caused by smaller shifts during the planets’ formation.Neptune and Uranus contain significant amounts of what astronomers call ices in addition to the hydrogen and helium gases that are present in all of their atmospheres. A combination of ammonia, water, and methane makes up these ices. The blue color of Neptune and Uranus is due to the methane present in these planets.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for four outer planets: fun facts to take you on an astrology trip then why not take a look at when do the planets align, or Mercury planet color.

Take an astronomy trip among the stars with these fun facts about four outer planets.