The solar system that Earth is in is comprised of nine planets.

Click on a planet image to learn more about that planet!

Uranus

Venus

Saturn

Pluto

Neptune

Mercury

Mars

Jupiter

Earth

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This policy was last modified on 8/21/2011

http://alienplanet.info/

One theory on why it is so black is that it has light absorbing chemicals in the atmosphere, perhaps from a chemical that is not yet known to us on planet earth.

So what would it be like to be a life form on a planet this dark?  Would any alien life that exists there have had to adapt – would they have special infrared or radar vision?  Would they be hurt by light if it were to penetrate the atmosphere and touch their skins?   Another interesting question is what would happen to humans if they ended up on an alien planet without any light?  Would humans be able to survive in a light deprived environment?

Perhaps planet TrES-2b can be the doorway to us exploring what we think about alien life – and human life, and what each is able to adapt to.  You can read more about this newly discovered alien planet by doing a web search for “coal-black alien planet”.

The Discovery Channel hosted a 94 minute fictional show entitled Alien Planet. The show is about unmanned probes sent to search for life on Planet IV, which is 6.5 light years from Planet Earth. Watch the entire discovery channgel show below!

Watch Discovery’s Alien Planet

Earth
Jupiter
Mars
Mercury
Neptune
Pluto (*no longer classified as a planet)
Saturn
Uranus
Venus

The International Astronomical Union voted on a new definition of a planet. By the new definition, a planet has to have become round due to its own gravity, it has to orbit the sun, and it has to domintae the neighborhood around its orbit. Because Pluto’s moon Charon is half the size that Pluto is, it does not meet the third criteria of “dominating the neighborhood”. It was therefore demoted to dwarf planet.

How was Pluto named?
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh and for a long time did not have a name, but was just referred to as “Planet X”. Then one day, along came a girl who gave the planet the name it has today! The girl was 11 year old Venetia Burney from Oxford England. Venetia was very interested in mythology, and suggested the name Pluto as it was a reference to the god of the underworld in ancient Greek mythology. Astronomers voted on the name between the finalists Minerva, Cronus and Pluto, and you know the rest – Pluto won!

Does Pluto have any moons?
Yes! Pluto does have moons – so far astronomers have found 4 moons of Pluto. They are:

• Charon – discovered in 1978 and is the largest of Pluto’s moons at 648 miles in diameter which is half the size of Pluto itself!

• Hydra – discovered in 2005 and is 20-70 miles in diameter

• Nix – discovered in 2005 and is 20-70 miles in diameter

• S/2011 P1 aka P4 – discovered in 2011 and is the smallest and newest of Pluto’s moons and is 8-21 miles in diamete

Pluto Facts:
Pluto is 5.906 billion km (3.670 billion mi) from the sun.
Pluto’s rotation takes 6.4 Earth days to complete.
One year on Pluto actually lasts 248.5 Earth years.
Pluto’s atmosphere is believed to be made of mostly methane and nitrogen.

The Great Dark Spots
Neptune had what’s called a Great Dark Spot (aka GDS-89) that was discovered by NASA’s Voyager 2 in 1989. The spot was actually many smaller spots which were actually weather storms known as anticylonic storms. The spot could no longer be sighted when it was looked for in 1994, but was replaced by a new weather storm / spot which was found in a different part of the planet. The spot was dubbed the Northern Great Dark Spot (aka NGDS).

How was Neptune named?
Neptune was named after a the god of the sea from Roman mythology. Other names that were considered for the planet included Le Verrier’s planet, Janus, Oceanus, and the planet exterior to Uranus.

Does Neptune have any moons?
yes! Neptune has 13 moons that have been discovered. They are:
Triton – Discovered in 1846 and is Neptune’s largest moon. One oddity about this moon is that it is the only large moon that orbits the opposite direction from the planet!
Proteus – the planet’s second largest moon

• Naiad
• Thalassa
• Despina
• Galatea
• Larissa
• Nereid
• Halimede
• Sao
• Laomedeia
• Neso
• Psamathe

Neptune Facts:

• Neptune is 4,503,443,661 km from the sun.

• Neptune’s rotation takes 16.11 hours or .67 Earth days to complete.

• One year on Neptune actually lasts 164.8 Earth years.

• Neptune’s atmosphere is believed to be made of mostly methane, hydrogen, and helium

The planet Uranus was discovered in 1781, having been mistaken time and time again for being a star! The planet is a gaseous planet made up of hydrogen and helium, and is the third largest planet in the Solar Sytem. Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun.