Boris Valeggio similar artists. Unknown Boris Valeggio

the best photos planets of the solar system, photographs of spacecraft.

Mercury

Taken from NASA's Messenger spacecraft, this is the best image of Mercury ever taken. It was compiled as recently as February 22, 2013.

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

If you were born in the specified time period, then you will be interested to know which animal was born in 1986. Zodiac signs will tell you what character traits and other qualities are inherent in a person born in eighty-six.

Planets of the Solar System

According to the official position of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the organization that assigns names to astronomical objects, there are only 8 planets.

Pluto was removed from the planet category in 2006. because There are objects in the Kuiper belt that are larger/equal in size to Pluto. Therefore, even if we take it as a full-fledged celestial body, then it is necessary to add Eris to this category, which has almost the same size as Pluto.

By MAC definition, there are 8 known planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

All planets are divided into two categories depending on their physical characteristics: terrestrial group and gas giants.

Schematic representation of the location of the planets

Terrestrial planets

Mercury

The smallest planet in the solar system has a radius of only 2440 km. The period of revolution around the Sun, equated to an earthly year for ease of understanding, is 88 days, while Mercury manages to rotate around its own axis only one and a half times. Thus, his day lasts approximately 59 Earth days. For a long time it was believed that this planet was always turned to the Sun with the same side, since the periods of its visibility from the Earth were repeated with a frequency approximately equal to four Mercury days. This misconception was dispelled with the advent of the ability to use radar research and conduct continuous observations using space stations. The orbit of Mercury is one of the most unstable; not only the speed of movement and its distance from the Sun change, but also the position itself. Anyone interested can observe this effect.

Mercury in color, image from the MESSENGER spacecraft

Its proximity to the Sun is the reason why Mercury is subject to the largest temperature changes among the planets in our system. The average daytime temperature is about 350 degrees Celsius, and the nighttime temperature is -170 °C. Sodium, oxygen, helium, potassium, hydrogen and argon were detected in the atmosphere. There is a theory that it was previously a satellite of Venus, but so far this remains unproven. It does not have its own satellites.

Venus

The second planet from the Sun, the atmosphere is almost entirely composed of carbon dioxide. She is often called Morning star and the Evening Star, because it is the first of the stars to become visible after sunset, just as before dawn it continues to be visible even when all the other stars have disappeared from view. The percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 96%, there is relatively little nitrogen in it - almost 4%, and water vapor and oxygen are present in very small quantities.

Venus in the UV spectrum

Such an atmosphere creates a greenhouse effect; the temperature on the surface is even higher than that of Mercury and reaches 475 °C. Considered the slowest, a Venusian day lasts 243 Earth days, which is almost equal to a year on Venus - 225 Earth days. Many call it Earth's sister because of its mass and radius, the values ​​of which are very close to those of Earth. The radius of Venus is 6052 km (0.85% of Earth's). Like Mercury, there are no satellites.

The third planet from the Sun and the only one in our system where there is liquid water on the surface, without which life on the planet could not have developed. At least life as we know it. The radius of the Earth is 6371 km and, unlike the others celestial bodies our system, more than 70% of its surface is covered with water. The rest of the space is occupied by continents. Another feature of the Earth is the tectonic plates hidden under the planet's mantle. At the same time, they are able to move, albeit at a very low speed, which over time causes changes in the landscape. The speed of the planet moving along it is 29-30 km/sec.

Our planet from space

One revolution around its axis takes almost 24 hours, and complete walkthrough in orbit lasts 365 days, which is much longer in comparison with its closest neighboring planets. The Earth's day and year are also accepted as a standard, but this is done only for the convenience of perceiving time periods on other planets. The Earth has one natural satellite - the Moon.

Mars

The fourth planet from the Sun, known for its thin atmosphere. Since 1960, Mars has been actively explored by scientists from several countries, including the USSR and the USA. Not all exploration programs have been successful, but water found at some sites suggests that primitive life exists on Mars, or existed in the past.

The brightness of this planet allows it to be seen from Earth without any instruments. Moreover, once every 15-17 years, during the Confrontation, it becomes the brightest object in the sky, eclipsing even Jupiter and Venus.

The radius is almost half that of Earth and is 3390 km, but the year is much longer - 687 days. He has 2 satellites - Phobos and Deimos .

Visual model of the solar system

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• Sun

  The Sun is a star that is a hot ball of hot gases at the center of our Solar System. Its influence extends far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto. Without the Sun and its intense energy and heat, there would be no life on Earth. There are billions of stars like our Sun scattered throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

• Mercury

  Sun-scorched Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth's satellite the Moon. Like the Moon, Mercury is practically devoid of an atmosphere and cannot smooth out the traces of impact from falling meteorites, so it, like the Moon, is covered with craters. The day side of Mercury gets very hot from the Sun, while on the night side the temperature drops hundreds of degrees below zero. There is ice in the craters of Mercury, which are located at the poles. Mercury completes one revolution around the Sun every 88 days.

• Venus

  Venus is a world of monstrous heat (even more than on Mercury) and volcanic activity. Similar in structure and size to Earth, Venus is covered in a thick and toxic atmosphere that creates a strong Greenhouse effect. This scorched world is hot enough to melt lead. Radar images through the powerful atmosphere revealed volcanoes and deformed mountains. Venus rotates in the opposite direction from the rotation of most planets.

• Earth is an ocean planet. Our home, with its abundance of water and life, makes it unique in our solar system. Other planets, including several moons, also have ice deposits, atmospheres, seasons and even weather, but only on Earth did all these components come together in a way that made life possible.

• Mars

  Although details of the surface of Mars are difficult to see from Earth, observations through a telescope indicate that Mars has seasons and white spots at the poles. For decades, people believed that the bright and dark areas on Mars were patches of vegetation and that Mars might be suitable place for life, and that water exists in the polar ice caps. When the Mariner 4 spacecraft arrived at Mars in 1965, many scientists were shocked to see photographs of the murky, cratered planet. Mars turned out to be a dead planet. More recent missions, however, have revealed that Mars holds many mysteries that remain to be solved.

• Jupiter

  Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system, with four large moons and many small moons. Jupiter forms a kind of miniature solar system. To become a full-fledged star, Jupiter needed to become 80 times more massive.

• Saturn

  Saturn is the farthest of the five planets known before the invention of the telescope. Like Jupiter, Saturn is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Its volume is 755 times greater than that of the Earth. Winds in its atmosphere reach speeds of 500 meters per second. These fast winds, combined with heat rising from the planet's interior, cause the yellow and golden streaks we see in the atmosphere.

• Uranus

  The first planet found using a telescope, Uranus was discovered in 1781 by astronomer William Herschel. The seventh planet is so far from the Sun that one revolution around the Sun takes 84 years.

• Neptune

  Distant Neptune rotates almost 4.5 billion kilometers from the Sun. It takes him 165 years to complete one revolution around the Sun. It is invisible to the naked eye due to its vast distance from Earth. Interestingly, its unusual elliptical orbit intersects with the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto, which is why Pluto is inside the orbit of Neptune for about 20 years out of 248 during which it makes one revolution around the Sun.

• Pluto

  Tiny, cold and incredibly distant, Pluto was discovered in 1930 and was long considered the ninth planet. But after discoveries of Pluto-like worlds that were even further away, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.

Planets are giants

There are four gas giants located beyond the orbit of Mars: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. They are located in the outer solar system. They are distinguished by their massiveness and gas composition.

Planets solar system, the scale is not respected

Jupiter

The fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in our system. Its radius is 69912 km, it is 19 times more than Earth and only 10 times smaller than the Sun. The year on Jupiter is not the longest in the solar system, lasting 4333 Earth days (less than 12 years). His own day has a duration of about 10 Earth hours. The exact composition of the planet's surface has not yet been determined, but it is known that krypton, argon and xenon are present on Jupiter in much larger quantities than on the Sun.

There is an opinion that one of the four gas giants is actually a failed star. This theory is also supported by the largest number of satellites, of which Jupiter has many - as many as 67. To imagine their behavior in the planet’s orbit, you need a fairly accurate and clear model of the solar system. The largest of them are Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa. Moreover, Ganymede is the largest satellite of the planets in the entire solar system, its radius is 2634 km, which is 8% greater than the size of Mercury, the smallest planet in our system. Io has the distinction of being one of only three moons with an atmosphere.

Saturn

The second largest planet and the sixth in the solar system. Compared to other planets, its composition is most similar to the Sun chemical elements. The radius of the surface is 57,350 km, the year is 10,759 days (almost 30 Earth years). A day here lasts a little longer than on Jupiter - 10.5 Earth hours. In terms of the number of satellites, it is not much behind its neighbor - 62 versus 67. The largest satellite of Saturn is Titan, just like Io, which is distinguished by the presence of an atmosphere. Slightly smaller in size, but no less famous are Enceladus, Rhea, Dione, Tethys, Iapetus and Mimas. It is these satellites that are the objects for the most frequent observation, and therefore we can say that they are the most studied in comparison with the others.

For a long time, the rings on Saturn were considered a unique phenomenon unique to it. Only recently it was established that all gas giants have rings, but in others they are not so clearly visible. Their origin has not yet been established, although there are several hypotheses about how they appeared. In addition, it was recently discovered that Rhea, one of the satellites of the sixth planet, also has some kind of rings.

Interplanetary automatic reconnaissance aircraft of NASA, the European Space Agency and others in this moment collect information about our solar system. Right now, spacecraft are in orbit around the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Saturn, while others are flying towards small space objects.
Thanks to the astronauts and all the automatic mechanical scouts in space, we have the opportunity to look at “family” photographs of our Solar System.

This is Pan-STARRS - a non-periodic circumsolar comet. In March 2013, it could be observed with the naked eye, while it was near perihelion. It is named after the Pan-STARRS telescope located on the island of Maui (Hawaii).
This photo of the comet was taken on March 15, 2013 from the Stereo Behind, which is part of one of the most unusual projects on the study of the Sun. So, one device moves in an orbit located to the Sun a little closer than the Earth’s, the other - a little further. As a result, Stereo Ahead and Stereo Behind send pictures taken from different points at the same time. This allows you to form a three-dimensional picture of observations.

Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun in the Solar System. In its physical characteristics, Mercury resembles the Moon. It has no natural satellites, but has a very rarefied atmosphere. The temperature on the surface of Mercury ranges from −180 to +430 °C. The photo was taken from the American automatic interplanetary station Messenger for the study of Mercury.

Mercury is the smallest terrestrial planet. Its radius is only 2440 ± 1.0 km, which is less than the radius of Jupiter's moon Ganymede and Saturn's moon Titan. Comparative sizes of the planets (from left to right: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars):

Kertesz Crater on Mercury. It is named after Andre Kertesz, American photographer of Hungarian origin. The diameter of the crater is 33 km.

This is Venus - the second inner planet of the solar system. Its relative dimensions are shown in the 4th photo. Venus is classified as an Earth-like planet and is sometimes called "Earth's sister" because the two planets are similar in size, gravity, and composition. By cosmic standards, Venus is a young planet, and the surface of Venus is approximately 500 million years old.

In ancient times, Venus is believed to have become so hot that the Earth-like oceans it is thought to have evaporated completely, leaving behind a desert landscape with many slab-like rocks. The atmospheric pressure on the surface of Venus is 92 times greater than on Earth.

Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide went into open space from the ISS, November 1, 2012. Contrary to popular belief, space is not completely empty space - it contains a very low density of some particles (mainly hydrogen), as well as electromagnetic radiation. Also, there is still no consensus on what to consider as a factor in the beginning of space, since the atmosphere gradually thins out as it moves away from the earth’s surface.

According to NASA scientists, contrary to popular belief, when entering outer space without a protective suit, a person will not freeze, explode, or instantly lose consciousness, and his blood will not boil. Instead, there will be rapid death from lack of oxygen.

Northern Lights in Alaska, March 17, 2013. 1000–1100 km - the maximum height of the auroras, the last manifestation of the atmosphere visible from the Earth's surface.

A crater lake is a body of water formed when a volcanic crater fills with water. This satellite photo of Quebec shows two circular crater lakes not covered with snow - Pingualuit and Couture. Both craters were formed millions of years ago by the impact of meteorites on the Earth's surface.

Test launch of the Antares rocket, developed by the American company Orbital Sciences Corporation and intended to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, April 21, 2013. We have already talked about this launch in detail.

December 7, 2012 was 40 years since the launch of Apollo 17 - the manned spaceship, which carried out the sixth and final landing of men on the Moon as part of the Apollo program. This photo was taken in 1972 from Apollo 17. The Earth can be seen rising above the lunar horizon.

The Curiosity rover is monitored by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft in Martian orbit. This image shows rover tracks on the surface of the Red Planet, January 2, 2013.

Aeolis or Mount Sharp is the central peak of Gale Crater on the planet Mars, September 20, 2012. The main goal of the Curiosity rover's scientific mission is to conduct research in the area at the foot of Mount Sharp.

On February 8, 2013, the American rover Curiosity drilled a hole in Mars (diameter 1.6 cm, depth 6.4 cm) and obtained a soil sample.

Gullies on the Vesta asteroid. It is one of the largest asteroids in the main asteroid belt. Among asteroids it ranks first in mass and second in size after Pallas. Vesta was discovered on March 29, 1807 by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers and, at the suggestion of Karl Gauss, received the name of the ancient Roman goddess of home and hearth, Vesta.

A giant solar flare caused a magnetic storm on our planet on August 31, 2012. A cloud of hot plasma rose at a speed of 5.2 million km/h hundreds of thousands of kilometers above the surface of the star.

A young couple invited a photographer to Moscow for a long-awaited sunset photo shoot. They had long planned to turn to a team of creative and talented specialists to make their long-time dream come true.

The Sun, partially obscured by the Earth's shadow.
(read about how the inhabitants of the planet accepted)

Photo of a crater on the Moon, from which rock fragments are flying over the edge of Komarov Crater, taken using NASA's orbiting lunar research vehicle.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, flight engineer for Expedition 32. During the spacewalk, which lasted 6 hours and 28 minutes, Williams and his team completed the installation of the main bus switch, and they also installed cameras on the International space station, Canadarm-2.

Polar mesospheric clouds. The photo was taken from the International Space Station.

Astronaut Andre Kuipers watches a drop of water in zero gravity on the space station on June 24, 2012.

The photo was taken 240 miles above the Earth. It took 47 frames to create this photo.

Hurricane Isaac is over Gulf of Mexico. The clouds are illuminated by moonlight.
(see causing floods, floods and destruction)

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft based air force at Cape Canaveral, Titusville, Florida.

The setting sun illuminates the clouds above the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Surface of Mars. The image was taken from the Opportunity research apparatus, which studied western part Endeavor Crater. The diameter of the crater is 22 kilometers, its size is comparable to Seattle ( The largest city in the northwestern United States).

A detailed photograph of the Martian soil (the length of the photographed area diagonally is 8 centimeters).

Photo of the base of Mount Sharp, where the new Curiosity rover is heading.

Vesta is one of the largest asteroids in the main asteroid belt. It is the brightest and the only one that can be observed with the naked eye. Opened on March 29, 1807. Vesta has a huge crater (460 km across) that occupies the entire South Pole. The bottom of the crater lies 13 km below the average level, the edges rise 4–12 km above the adjacent plains, and its central part has a height of 18 km. (for comparison: the height of Everest is 8.9 km).

Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system, a gas giant composed mainly of hydrogen. The planet's mass is 95 times the mass of Earth, and wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h in places. In front of Saturn, its largest satellite is observed - Titan (the second largest satellite in the Solar System), which is the only body in the Solar System, besides the Earth, for which the existence of liquid on the surface has been proven. Titan's diameter is 50% larger than that of the Moon.

Enceladus is the sixth largest moon of Saturn, discovered in 1789, against the backdrop of the rings of Saturn itself. Its diameter is approximately 500 km.

Class C3 flare on the Sun.

Relief on the surface of Mercury, including the Kipling (bottom left) and Steichen (top right) craters.

The photograph shows a fading crescent moon and thin line earth's atmosphere.

A meteor rushes past the stars. Night sky over Stonehenge in England.

The Mertz Glacier, off the coast of East Antarctica, floats along the coast of George V.

Hurricane Daniel captured by the International Space Station.

A hole on the Moon reaching 400 meters in width.

Phobos, the satellite of Mars, filmed using a stereo camera from high resolution aboard the Mars Express spacecraft.

Dune on the surface of Mars.

Wind-formed reliefs on the surface of a shield volcano in the Tharsis region of Mars.

Dunes in the Matara crater on Mars.

The soil of Mars and traces left by the Opportunity rover.

Dione, one of Saturn's moons, against the background of the foggy Titan (the second largest moon in the Solar System). Dione is located 1.8 million kilometers from Titan.

Photo of the Sun.

A funnel and extensive system of depressions on the surface of Mercury.

Photo of Venus.

The moon above the surface of the Earth. Canadian Space Agency photo taken from the International Space Station.

Black and white image of the Earth.
(read about)

Aurora above North America. The picture was taken at night.

Northern Lights in Kenai, Alaska, March 17, 2013.

Ungava Peninsula, Quebec (the first province in Canada by area and second by population). Ice-free areas are craters that were formed millions of years ago by the fall of meteorites on the surface of the Earth, today they are deep lakes: Couture - 8 km wide, 150 meters deep; Pingualuit - about 3 km, depth 246 meters.

In the layers of the atmosphere, exhaust traces from the Soyuz rocket, which launched from Kazakhstan on October 23, 2012, are observed. The Soyuz passed through the troposphere (the lower layer of the atmosphere, extending to an altitude of 8-10 km), the stratosphere (at an altitude of 11 to 50 km), the mesosphere (at altitudes from 50 to 90 km) and the thermosphere (beginning at an altitude of 80-90 km). km and extends up to 800 km). These marks will remain visible for a long time (from several minutes to several hours).

A small plane against the backdrop of the rising moon on February 25, 2013.

Traces from a meteorite flying over Chelyabinsk, Russia, February 15, 2013. The small asteroid was only 17-20 meters wide, but it managed to cause damage a large number buildings, hundreds of people were injured of varying severity.

In Virginia, on April 21, 2013, a test launch of Antares took place from site 0A.

December 13, 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 17 spacecraft. The earth rises like a crescent above the lunar horizon.

The rover at the site that was chosen as the site for the first rock drilling.

Mount Sharp on Mars.

Saturn. The planet and rings are illuminated by the Sun.

If you are interested in seeing the photo, what do all the planets look like solar system, the material in this article is just for you. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune in the photo look extremely diverse and this is not surprising, because each planet is a perfect and unique “organism” in the universe.

So, short description planets, as well as photos, see below.

What Mercury looks like in the photo

Mercury

Venus is more similar in size and emitted brightness to Earth. Observing it is extremely difficult due to the densely enveloping clouds. The surface is a rocky, hot desert.

Characteristics of the planet Venus:

Diameter at the equator: 12104 km.

Average surface temperature: 480 degrees.

Orbit around the Sun: 224.7 days.

Rotation period (rotation around an axis): 243 days.

Atmosphere: dense, mostly carbon dioxide.

Number of satellites: no.

The main satellites of the planet: none.

What does the Earth look like in the photo?

Earth

Mars is the 4th planet from the sun. For some time, due to its similarities to Earth, it was assumed that life existed on Mars. But the spacecraft launched onto the surface of the planet did not detect any signs of life.

Characteristics of the planet Mars:

Diameter of the planet at the equator: 6794 km.

Average surface temperature: -23 degrees.

Orbit around the Sun: 687 days.

Rotation period (rotation around an axis): 24 hours 37 minutes.

The planet's atmosphere: thin, mostly carbon dioxide.

Number of satellites: 2 pcs.

The main satellites in order: Phobos, Deimos.

What Jupiter looks like in the photo

Jupiter

Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are composed of hydrogen and other gases. Jupiter is 10 times larger than Earth in diameter, 1300 times in volume and 300 times in mass.

Characteristics of the planet Jupiter:

Diameter of the planet at the equator: 143884 km.

Average surface temperature of the planet: -150 degrees (average).

Orbit around the Sun: 11 years 314 days.

Rotation period (rotation around an axis): 9 hours 55 minutes.

Number of satellites: 16 (+ rings).

The main satellites of the planets in order: Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto.

What Saturn looks like in the photo

Saturn

Saturn is considered the second largest planet in the solar system. A system of rings formed from ice, rocks and dust rotates around the planet. Among all the rings, there are 3 main rings with a thickness of about 30 meters and an outer diameter of 270 thousand km.

Characteristics of the planet Saturn:

Diameter of the planet at the equator: 120536 km.

Average surface temperature: -180 degrees.

Orbit around the Sun: 29 years 168 days.

Rotation period (rotation around an axis): 10 hours 14 minutes.

Atmosphere: Mainly hydrogen and helium.

Number of satellites: 18 (+ rings).

Main satellites: Titan.

What does Uranus look like in the photo?

UranusNeptune

Currently, Neptune is considered the last planet of the solar system. Pluto has been removed from the list of planets since 2006. In 1989, unique photographs of the blue surface of Neptune were obtained.

Characteristics of the planet Neptune:

Diameter at the equator: 50538 km.

Average surface temperature: -220 degrees.

Orbit around the Sun: 164 years 292 days.

Rotation period (rotation around an axis): 16 hours 7 minutes.

Atmosphere: Mainly hydrogen and helium.

Number of satellites: 8.

Main satellites: Triton.

We hope you saw what the planets look like: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and found out
how great they all are. Their view, even from space, is simply mesmerizing.

Also see "Planets of the solar system in order (in pictures)"