Out solar system consist of nine planets (from greek
planetes; wandering) Counting them in order of distance from
the sun, they are:
| Mercury |
Named from the
roman version of the greek god Hermes. He was the gods fast running messenger,
and Mercury got its name due to the planets speedy orbit around the sun.
Smallest of the planets (slightly smaller than Earths moon). |
| Venus |
This brightest and perhaps most beautiful planet in
our solar system got its name from the roman love-godess Venus (Afrodite
in greek), who stood for the feminine and loving. Sixth biggest planet. |
| Earth |
From the roman
Tellus ( Gaea in greek ) The mythologic and kosmogonic Mother
of All Living. Fifth biggest planet. |
| Mars |
From the roman war-god Mars (latin: Martius,
greek: Ares). This god symbolised fire, blood and danger - something
the red planet was associated with. Seventh biggest planet. |
| Jupiter |
Jupiter was considered
the foremost god both with the roman (Djovis) and the greek
(Zeus) society, so it was only natural to name our solar systems
biggest planet after him. One of Jupiters 16 moons; Ganymedes, is
the biggest moon in the known universe. |
| Saturn |
The roman god of growth and harvest ( compared to
greek Kronos ) This second biggest planet have 19 known moons (
largest moon being Titan, second biggest moon in the known universe
). |
| Uranus |
From the greek
Uranos and the latin Uranus, the embodied sky. Discovered in 1781, by german-brittish
astronomer Sir W. Herschel. Fourth biggest planet. |
| Neptune |
This blue planet was named after roman Neptunus (greek
Poseidon) being the god of all seas. Discovered in 1846 by german astrologer
J.G.Galle.Third biggest planet. |
| Pluto |
The planet Pluto
was not discovered until 1930. It was named after the greek underworld-god
Pluto (also known as Hades) because of its remote and isolated
location ( it takes 5 and a half hours travel for the sunlight to reach
the planet ). It is the only planet that has
not been visited by a spacecraft
from Earth. Second smallest of the planets. |