Alien Planets Research Paper

"Our solar system consists of one star and some debris," said Carl Sagan. There are many differences and similarities between the Inner and Outer planets. Our solar system is comprised of the Sun being in the middle, then followed by planets rotating it. The planets which orbit the Sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The Inner planets are very different from Outer planets and the Outer planets are completely different from Inner planets, but both are very similar in many ways. Our planets in the solar system have many similarities and differences.

As of 2006 dwarf planet was a new category and a new thing for astronomers. By definition it is simply just a planet except that it cannot complete a neighbourhood orbit around the sun. After planets were put into this grouping was noticed that all of these planets were much smaller in size and significantly farther away from the sun and the rest of the planets. All of the dwarf planets still orbit the sun however; it is just at a further distance.

Pluto belongs with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, or the outer planets. In our solar system, there are two groups of planets called the inner planets, and the outer planets. The inner planets are the first four planets before the asteroid belt, while the outer planets are the ones after the asteroid belt. The asteroid belt is a region of space the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, which probably contains million of asteroids. It is where most of the asteroids in our solar system are found orbiting the sun. Although Pluto was a part of the outer planets, it was the only known planet that orbits mostly in the Kuiper belt. Beyond Neptune is a region full of icy bodies, known as the Kuiper belt. This is what made Pluto stands out, not to mention that it’s also a lot smaller than the other outer planets. This got some astronomers thinking about whether or not Pluto should really be considered a

They are objects made from rocks and metals that orbit the Sun but are too small to be considered as a planet.

planet test to see if it was a planet or a dwarf planet? Well I believe that Pluto should be a planet

*Some would say pluto is a planet, But there are lots of reasons why pluto is considered a dwarf planet. First off, By definition “a planet is a sphere that orbits the sun, clearing the region as it goes.” Though Pluto does orbit the sun it is still not a planet because it’s so small. According to Nasa.gov “It’s so small it can’t clear other objects out of it’s path.”

There is a great amount of variation between the Terrestrial planets. These planets differ in size, atmosphere, and temperature. The temperatures vary greatly in the Terrestrial planets. Average temperatures range from 900° F on Venus to -50° F on Mars, which happens to have the coldest temperatures out of all the Terrestrial planets. These colder temperatures are a result of differences in distance, atmosphere, and magnetic field.

Earth may not be the only planet harboring life. Beyond our solar system, there are planets with similar and differing characteristics from Earth. These planets orbit stars other than our sun and are called ‘Exoplanets.’ The first confirmed exoplanet was discovered on January 9th, 1992. As of early 2018, there have been 3,705 exoplanets found and confirmed. Scientific evidence has proven the common existence of exoplanets by observing the planet’s transit in front of the star. As the planet travels between the telescope and its star, the light from the star dims, allowing scientists to determine the size of the planet. Scientists are also able to determine the distance between a star and a planet based on how long it takes the planet to orbit its star. One of these possibly habitable planet is Gliese

Due to some of Pluto’s various characteristics, this icy dwarf planet, and other dwarf planets are not considered regular planets, such as Earth. These reasons also make other dwarf planets, like Eris, Haumea, Ceres, and Makemake, outliers, when compared to the general eight planets. Astronomers predict that there are possibly hundreds of dwarf planets that surpass the Kuiper Belt, just waiting to be discovered. There are three rules, making a planet, a planet. These include, the planet is round, it orbits around the sun, and it has cleared the neighborhood of its orbit. Pluto only follows the first two rules therefore, Pluto is no longer called a planet, just a dwarf planet.

A dwarf planet was defined by the IAU in 2006 as a celestial body that orbits the sun, is massive enough to be near spherical in shape due to its own gravity yet not enough to clear its surroundings of planetesimals, and is not the satellite of another planet.

Neptune is unique. Neptune is one of the biggest gas planets in the solar system, also it is about the eighth planet that is closest to the sun. Neptune is twice as big as the earth in so many ways, When Neptune was first discovered in 1846, Neptune became the most distant planet in the Solar System. The gentlemen that discovered it was named Johann Gottfried Gann he is a German astronomer that wanted to discover something new and different so him and his team urban le terrier and John Couch Adams. They discovered the planet Neptune and everything that surrounds the planet. The surface of Neptune is very different than most of the planet's surfaces. Neptune has a rocky inner core, which is surrounded by water. The first layer of Neptune is the icy atmosphere, which is mostly hydrogen and also helium. The bluish

The Inner Planets are the planets that are closest to the sun. These planets include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, which are made of solid, dense rock. Even though these planets are composed of similar materials, they all have unique characteristics that set them apart from other planets.

What is a dwarf planet, you ask? Well, for starters, a planet is any object that orbits the Sun, is large enough for gravity to keep it spherical in shape, and massive enough for its orbit to have been cleared of any other objects. Any body that meets one, but not all of these criteria, is considered to be a dwarf planet. Pluto does orbit the Sun, it is spherical in shape, but its orbit, placed in the Kuiper Belt, is filled with other bodies of similar size. Therefore, Pluto is considered to be a dwarf planet. Pluto is composed of rock and ice, some water ice, some methane. Pluto has five known moons: Nix, Kerberos, Hydra, Charon, and Styx. Pluto's orbit is extremely oblong in shape, and actually crosses the orbit of Neptune for 20 out of its 248-year orbit period, making Pluto the 8th 'planet' for a short time. The New Horizons Probe visited Pluto earlier this year and gave us the first up-close glimpses of the previously unknown

For thousands of years astronomers have been observing the skies in awe, discovering the complex facts of our Universe. From the uncovering of a Sun centered Solar System, to the theory of the constant expansion of the Universe, this quick astronomical research advancement has made it possible to dig even deeper into the complex state of our Universe. With this constant discovery of facts, there is one question that boggles many people’s minds: could there be life elsewhere in the Universe? In the following pages, I will expand on the subject of exoplanets, which are planets that orbit a star outside of our Solar System . For the purpose of this research paper, I will only concentrate the findings in our Galaxy, the Milky Way. I will expand on what exactly makes a planet habitable, on exoplanets, on goldilocks planets and on the research involved in finding planets with life.

"A planet is a celestial body that revolves around a central star and does not shine by its own light " (Grolier, 1992). The only planetary system that is known to man is our