(OSS) The Outer Planets Lesson
The Outer Planets
The outer planets are those planets in the Solar System beyond the asteroid belt, and hence refers to the gas giants, which are in order of their
distance from the Sun:
- Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. It has four very large satellites.
- Saturn is the second-largest planet, with a large and bright ring system.
- Uranus is the third-largest planet and the least massive of the four outer planets. It is tilted almost onto the plane of its orbit.
- Neptune is smallest of the four outer planets. It has one big retrograde moon and many small ones.
The outer planets all have ring systems, although all but Saturn's are faint.
Another aspect common to the gas giants is their many natural satellites, two of which are larger than the planet Mercury (Jupiter's Ganymede and Saturn's Titan).
The Outer Planets Stats
|
Planet |
Diameter (kilometers) |
Rotation (Earth Days) |
Average Distance from the Sun (kilometers) |
Revolution (Earth Years) |
Number of Moons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Jupiter |
142,800 |
0.41 |
778,000,000 |
12 |
63+ Ganymede the largest |
|
Saturn |
120,540 |
0.43 |
1,427,000,000 |
29 |
60+ Titan is the second to the largest |
|
Uranus |
51,200 |
0.72 |
2,871,000,000 |
84 |
27+ |
|
Neptune |
49,500 |
0.67 |
4,497,000,000 |
165 |
13 Triton is the largest |
Information about the Outer Planets
Video on The Outer Planets
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