Solar System

Our solar system is a fascinating place filled with a variety of celestial bodies, including planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and the Sun.

At the centre of our solar system lies the Sun, a massive ball of hot, glowing gas. It provides light, heat, and energy to all the planets and other objects orbiting around it.

Moving outward from the Sun, the first four planets—Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars—are known as the inner planets. Earth, our home planet, the third planet from the Sun, is the only one to support life. Its unique combination of atmosphere, water, and moderate temperatures make it conducive to supporting a wide variety of organisms. It is also called the blue planet due to the presence of water. The Moon is Earth's natural satellite, orbiting around it at a relatively close distance. It plays a crucial role in stabilizing Earth's axial tilt and influencing tides. Beyond the asteroid belt lies the outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Jupiter is the largest of all the planets. Many of the planets in our solar system have moons.

Asteroids are rocky objects that orbit the Sun, mostly found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Comets are icy objects that orbit the Sun but often have highly elliptical orbits. When they near the Sun, their icy surfaces heat up, causing them to develop bright tails. Halley’s comet has been observed for centuries and is visible from Earth about every 76 years.

Meteors are small rocky or metallic objects that enter Earth's atmosphere from space. As they travel through the atmosphere, they heat up due to friction with the air, causing them to glow and produce a streak of light known as a meteor or shooting star. These unburnt meteors which strike the Earth are called meteorites.