After looking through some books I had, I thought it an idea to put up some stats about our neighbour planets from our own solar system.
At the centre of our solar system is the Sun which all the other planets rotate around, the sun is an ordinary star and only appears so bright and hot because it is close compared to any other stars (150 million kilometers from Earth). The Sun's surface temperature is 5,500 degrees centigrade and the core temperature is nearer to 14 million degrees centigrade. The Sun has a diameter of 1,392,000km and has a volume over a million times that of Earth. The Sun also takes approx 225 million years to make a full rotation of the centre of our galaxy the Milky way.
There are eight planets which revolve around the Sun and come in the order - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, each are a different size and distance from the Sun and take varying times to orbit the Sun.
Mercury
Mercury orbits a maximum of 69.7million Km from the sun and takes 89.97 days to make one full orbit.
It takes 58.646 days for Mercury to rotate on it's axis (at the equator).
Mercury has an orbital inclination of 7.0 degrees.
It's mass is 0.055 times that of Earth, has a surface temperature of +427 degrees celsius and an equatorial diameter of 4,878km.
Mercury can be viewed at a maximum magnitude of -1.9
Venus
Venus orbits at a maximum of 109million km from the Sun and takes 224.7days to make one full orbit.
It takes 243.16 days for Venus to rotate on it's axis (at the equator).
Venus has an orbital inclination of 3.4 degrees.
It's mass is 0.815 times that of Earth, has a surface temperature of +480 degrees celsius and an equatorial diameter of 12,104km.
Venus can be viewed at a maximum magnitude of -4.4
Earth
Earth orbits at a maximum of 152million km from the Sun and takes 365.3 days to make one full orbit. It takes 23hours, 56minutes and 4seconds for Earth to rotate on it's axis (at the equator). Earth has an orbital inclination of 0 degrees. Earth has a surface temperature of +22 degrees celsius and an equatorial diameter of 12,756km.
Mars
Mars orbits at a maximum of 249million km from the Sun and takes 687days to make one full orbit. It takes 24hours, 37minutes and 23seconds for Mars to rotate on it's axis (at the equator). Mars has an orbital inclination of 1.8 degrees.
It's mass is 0.11 times that of Earth, has a surface temperature of -23 degrees celsius and an equatorial diameter of 6,794km.
Mars can be viewed at a maximum magnitude of -2.8
Jupiter
Jupiter orbits at a maximum of 815.7million km from the Sun and takes 11.86 years to make one full orbit.
It takes 9hours, 50minutes and 30seconds for Jupiter to rotate on it's axis (at the equator).
Venus has an orbital inclination of 1.3 degrees.
It's mass is 317.9 times that of Earth, has a surface temperature of -150 degrees celsius and an equatorial diameter of 143,884km.
Jupiter can be viewed at a maximum magnitude of -2.6
Saturn
Saturn orbits at a maximum of 1,507million km from the Sun and takes 29.46years to make one full orbit.
It takes 10hours, 13minutes and 59seconds for Saturn to rotate on it's axis (at the equator).
Saturn has an orbital inclination of 2.5 degrees.
It's mass is 95.2 times that of Earth, has a surface temperature of -180 degrees celsius and an equatorial diameter of 120,536km.
Venus can be viewed at a maximum magnitude of -0.3
Uranus
Uranus orbits at a maximum of 3,004 million km from the Sun and takes 84.1 days to make one full orbit.
It takes 17hours and 14 minutes for Uranus to rotate on it's axis (at the equator).
Uranus has an orbital inclination of 0.8 degrees.
It's mass is 14.6 times that of Earth, has a surface temperature of -214 degrees celsius and an equatorial diameter of 51,118km.
Uranus can be viewed at a maximum magnitude of +5.6
Neptune
Neptune orbits at a maximum of 4,537 million km from the Sun and takes 164.8 years to make one full orbit.
It takes 16hours and 7 minutes for Neptune to rotate on it's axis (at the equator).
Neptune has an orbital inclination of 1.8 degrees.
It's mass is 17.2 times that of Earth, has a surface temperature of -220 degrees celsius and an equatorial diameter of 50,538km.
Neptune can be viewed at a maximum magnitude of +7.7
