Discover these amazing facts about our Solar System, they will blow your mind

Located in the Orion Arm, 26,100 light-years from the center of the Milky Way, our Solar System, home to the Earth and the Sun, is around 4.5 billion years old. Made up of 8 planets, since Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet in 2006 (tough!), a whole host of interesting facts characterize it. Find out what they are.

Planets before the asteroid belt

In our Solar System, all the planets are aligned around the Sun on the same imaginary plateau. There is no planet 'higher' or 'lower' than any other. As for the Sun, its mass represents 99.8% of the system. That's all there is to it!

Mercury

It is the closest planet to the Sun, the smallest and the fastest. It orbits the Sun in just 3 months. But as unlikely as it may seem, there is ice on Mercury! It lies in the shadow of craters and is thought to have been transported by meteorites.

Venus

It is the only planet without a natural satellite. Venus is also one of only two planets to rotate in a clockwise direction, all the others being counter-clockwise. Another interesting fact is that it rotates on itself every 243 Earth days, and around the Sun every 225 days, which means that on Venus a day is longer than a year. It's a bit like the planet of contradiction.

Mars

The average temperature is -60°C, the same as you'd find at the Earth's poles, but without life. At a time when global warming on the blue planet is one of the threats of the century, scientists are planning to develop a system of giant mirrors designed to warm the planet and make it more habitable...

Planets beyond the asteroid belt

Jupiter

The largest planet in the Solar System, it is 318 times larger than the Earth and has some sixty natural satellites. One of the best known is Ganymede, much larger than Mercury.

Saturn

It's one of the undisputed stars of our Solar System, thanks to its famous rings. For the record, it's not the only planet to have them, but they are by far the most impressive. They are 90% water in the form of ice.

Uranus

At its heart, it rains diamonds! Like Venus, it rotates clockwise. And like the other planets behind the asteroid belt, don't expect to set foot on Uranus. It's a ball of gas, mainly hydrogen and helium.

Neptune

Can't stand the wind? You won't be able to stand Neptune. The planet sets record wind speeds: 1770 km/hour at its highest point.

And what about the Earth? Well, as the only planet that can boast of harboring life until proven otherwise, this is undoubtedly its most notable exceptional fact.

Read more:

⋙ NASA reveals it may have found a 9th planet in our solar system and it looks massive

⋙ Here's what would happen if a planet went rogue in our solar system

⋙ NASA detects a planet where it rains... sand!

⋙ Could a solar flare ever destroy the planet?

⋙ Space Pollution: Could the debris surrounding the planet cause a collision in the future?

This article has been translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used:

Destination Orbite: La planète naine Pluton

Courrier International: Infographie. Le Soleil représente 99,8 % de la masse de notre Système solaire

SpacePlace: All About Venus

Independent: Elon Musk says giant mirrors will warm up Mars and make it habitable for humans

Space: Yes, there is really 'diamond rain' on Uranus and Neptune

CoolCosmos: Which planet has the strongest winds?