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  2. Solar System - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System

    The four outer planets, called giant planets or Jovian planets, collectively make up 99% of the mass orbiting the Sun. [h] All four giant planets have multiple moons and a ring system, although only Saturn's rings are easily observed from Earth. [91] Jupiter and Saturn are composed mainly of gases with extremely low melting points, such as ...

  3. Saturn - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn

    The average distance between Saturn and the Sun is over 1.4 billion kilometers (9 AU). With an average orbital speed of 9.68 km/s, [6] it takes Saturn 10,759 Earth days (or about 29 + 1 ⁄ 2 years) [86] to finish one revolution around the Sun. [6] As a consequence, it forms a near 5:2 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter. [87]

  4. List of Solar System objects - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Solar_System_objects

    Euler diagram showing the types of bodies orbiting the Sun. The following is a list of Solar System objects by orbit, ordered by increasing distance from the Sun. Most named objects in this list have a diameter of 500 km or more. The Sun, a spectral class G2V main-sequence star; The inner Solar System and the terrestrial planets. 2021 PH27; Mercury

  5. Orbital period - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_period

    For example, the synodic period of the Moon's orbit as seen from Earth, relative to the Sun, is 29.5 mean solar days, since the Moon's phase and position relative to the Sun and Earth repeats after this period. This is longer than the sidereal period of its orbit around Earth, which is 27.3 mean solar days, owing to the motion of Earth around ...

  6. Poles of astronomical bodies - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_of_astronomical_bodies

    The direction of rotation exhibited by most objects in the solar system (including Sun and Earth) is counterclockwise. Venus rotates clockwise, and Uranus has been knocked on its side and rotates almost perpendicular to the rest of the Solar System. The ecliptic remains within 3° of the invariable plane over five million years, [2] but is now ...

  7. Earth's orbit - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_orbit

    Ignoring the influence of other Solar System bodies, Earth's orbit, also called Earth's revolution, is an ellipse with the EarthSun barycenter as one focus with a current eccentricity of 0.0167. Since this value is close to zero, the center of the orbit is relatively close to the center of the Sun (relative to the size of the orbit).

  8. Differential rotation - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_rotation

    Stars and planets rotate in the first place because conservation of angular momentum turns random drifting of parts of the molecular cloud that they form from into rotating motion as they coalesce. Given this average rotation of the whole body, internal differential rotation is caused by convection in stars which is a movement of mass, due to ...

  9. Copernican heliocentrism - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_heliocentrism

    Around the Sun, in order, are Mercury, Venus, the Earth and Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the fixed stars. The Earth has three motions: daily rotation, annual revolution, and annual tilting of its axis. Retrograde motion of the planets is explained by the Earth's motion, which in short was also influenced by planets and other celestial ...