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Solar System Planets: Temperature and Speed Overview

Solar System Planets: Temperature and Speed Overview

Solar system

Our solar system consists of a central star that is orbited by nine planets and their moons in the Milky Way galaxy, one of the four galaxies in the universe. The Solar System also consists of interplanetary gas dust and asteroids; Among the Kuiper Belt objects, and meteorites, all 8 planets revolve in their axis around the Sun in the same orbit.

Sun

Diameter =1.3927 million km
The temperature of the surface = 5,600 Celsius
The average orbiting speed = 250 km/sec
The sun is the center of the solar system. It is about five million years old and will continue to heat up for another five million years.
The Sun’s core consists almost exclusively of hydrogen and helium, when hydrogen atoms are converted into helium by nuclear fusion in the core, that energy passes through the radioactive and convective zones, and that flare is reflected on the surface.

Mercury

Diameter = 4,878km
temperature = 430°C on sunlight side and -170°C on darker side
average speed of rotation = 48km/sec.
completing an orbit = 88 Earth days
It’s the smallest planet and nearest planet to the Sun and terrestrial planet. It has no natural satellite and its surface gravity is the same as Mars. Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system. It is closest to the Sun, so it rotates faster than other planets. It consists of helium and hydrogen gas in the atmosphere of mercury.

Venus

Diameter = 12,103km
Temperature = 464 °C
The average speed of rotation = 395 km/h
Completing an orbit = 225 Earth days
It is the second closest planet to the Sun. The atmosphere traps greenhouse gases, making it the hottest planet in the Solar System. Dense clouds on Venus whose droplets contain sulfuric acid. Its high temperature, acidic clouds and extreme atmospheric pressure (which is 90 times higher at the surface than on Earth) make the environment extremely hostile. It seems yellowish due to sulphuric acid clouds. Its rotation is slower than other planets.

Earth

Diameter = 12,756km
Temperature = favorable for living things
The average speed of rotation = 1,674km/hr
Completing an orbit = 365 or 366 Earth days
our home planet is the 3rd planet in the solar system. It is covered with 70% water and 30% with land. Earth is favorable for living organisms.
The earth rotates on its axis, and suddenly the speed of the earth increases, the expert says that it is affected by the specific parts which include its outer and inner layers, oceans, tides, and climate change (melting glaciers), if  Earth’s speed will increase, then one day will be less than 24 hours.

Mars

Diameter = 6,779km
Temperature = -65°C
The average speed of rotation = 866 km/h
Completing an orbit = 687 Earth days(about 1.88 Earth years)
It is the fourth planet from the sun. It is also a dynamic planet with seasons, polar ice caps, valleys, and extinct volcanoes indicating that they were active in the past. It is a rocky planet with a thin atmosphere, composed mostly of carbon dioxide (CO2), argon (Ar), nitrogen (N2), and small amounts of oxygen and water vapor.
This planet is also known as the “Red Planet”, The atmosphere appears red because of the rusting of the iron minerals in the Martian soil. It may not support life right now but several missions to Mars show the possibility of life in the past and future. It has two natural satellites called moons that revolve around the planet.

Jupiter

Diameter =1,42,984km
Temperature = -110°C
The average speed of rotation = 45,583km/hr
Completing an orbit = 4,333 Earth days(about 12 Earth years)
It is the fifth planet from the Sun and is also called the giant planet. Its diameter is 11 times that of Earth as if Earth were the size of a grapefruit and Jupiter would be the size of a basketball. It does not have a solid surface but its core is solid like the Earth. It also has some rings but these are very faint and it is difficult to see them. Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen and helium.
The red spot represents the great storm that has been observed since 1831 and will continue to be so for another thousand years.

Jupiter also can make 1000 tons of diamonds in a year. Researchers say lightning storms on the planet turn methane into soot and harden by dropping pieces of graphite and then diamond, but when they fall to the surface, they melt into the hot core. It has more than 75 moons and some of the moons have oceans under their crust which may have support life.

Saturn

Diameter = 1,20,536km
Temperature = -140°C
The average speed of rotation = 36,840 km/h
Completing an orbit = 10,756 Earth days(about 29.4 Earth years)
Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and the second giant gaseous planet. It has a rocky core, surrounded by metallic hydrogen and an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium, finally a gaseous outer layer. The rings around Saturn are made of chunks of ice and rock. It also can form Jupiter-like diamonds, but they also melt at the planet’s hot core.
It has 53 known moons and 29 moons awaiting confirmation – a total of 82 moons and a few moons that could support life.

Uranus

Diameter = 50,724km
Temperature = -195°C
The average speed of rotation = 6.81 km/s
Completing an orbit = 30,687 Earth days(about 84 Earth years)
It is the seventh planet from the Sun, it is also called the largest gaseous ice giant planet with a dense liquid of icy material – water, methane, and ammonia – over a small rocky core. Its atmosphere is composed mostly of hydrogen, atomic helium, and a small amount of methane. At its pole, there will be sunlight for 42 years and after that, there will be darkness for 42 years. The inner rings are narrow and dark in color and the outer rings are brightly colored. It has 27 moons and cannot support life.

Neptune

Diameter = 49,244km
Temperature = -200°C
The average speed of rotation = 9,719 km/h
Completing an orbit = 60,190 Earth days (about 165 Earth years)
It is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun. It is dark, cold, and affected by supersonic winds. It cannot be seen with the naked eye, it was first discovered through mathematical predictions. Its atmosphere is composed mostly of molecular hydrogen, atomic helium, and methane. It has 14 known moons named after sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology
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Why was Pluto removed from the solar system planets?

Pluto, also called a “Dwarf Planet”, is composed of rock and ice. It is smaller than Earth’s Moon.

It used to be part of the Solar System but according to new rules adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, celestial bodies have to follow certain criteria:
1. A planet must be round
2. A planet must orbit the sun. 
3. A planet must have “cleared the neighborhood” of its orbit. This means that as a planet travels, its gravity sweeps and clears the space around it of other objects. Some of the objects may crash into the planet, others may become moons.
Pluto obeys the 1st and 2nd criteria but doesn’t fit the 3rd criteria, Since the direction of its orbital motion is different from other planets and it has not cleared the neighborhood of its orbit in space, it is no longer considered as a planet.
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