Astronomy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Astronomy - Research Paper Example Our solar system is located in Milky Way which is a spiral galaxy. It is estimated that almost 200 billion stars inhabit Milky Way. Whatever is visible to us by naked eyes lies within the boundaries of Milky Way. The distance in space is measured in light years and our Sun is at the distance of 26000 light-years from the center of Milky Way. The distance that light travels in one year is known as one light-year. The distance between two ends of the Milky Way is almost 120,000 light years. Our sun revolves around the center of Milky Way and takes almost 225 million years to complete one round of our galaxy. Our solar system moves at an amazing velocity of about 250 kilometers/second (Cain, Fraser). Our solar system is made up of planets, moons, comets, an asteroid belt, meteors, plutoids and other objects. Everything in our solar system moves around our sun. Our planet the Earth is the only place in the whole solar system which exhibits life and that way it is unique in whole solar system (Enchanted Learning). There are nine planets in our solar system and they are known as Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Earth, Venus, Mars and Pluto. Pluto is known as dwarf planet. All planets orbit around the sun in the same plane. Mercury is nearest to the Sun. It has no atmosphere. It is only visible during sunrise and sunset duet to its closeness to the Sun. It is about 4878 kilometers in diameter and the smallest among all planets in our solar system. Its mass is only 5 percent of that of the Earth and the gravitational pull is just 38 percent of the earths gravity. Its surface temperature varies widely from -168Â ° C to 427Â ° C. Venus is the second nearest planet and 108,200,000 km away from the Sun. It has almost circular orbit but moves in opposite direction of the Earth. It is also known as morning and evening star because it is so bright