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Solar System: Planets and Features
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Mercury
Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System. Its day-side temperature can soar to 465°C, while the night side can drop to -184°C. It has a very thin atmosphere, and a year on Mercury is just 88 Earth days.
Ganymede
Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System and even bigger than the planet Mercury. It is one of Jupiter's Galilean moons and has a magnetic field, which is unusual for a moon.
Great Red Spot
The Great Red Spot is a giant storm on Jupiter that has existed for at least 350 years. It measures about 16,350 km across - big enough to contain two or three planets the size of Earth.
Uranus
Uranus is an ice giant with a blue-green color due to methane in its atmosphere. It rotates on its side, possibly due to a collision with an Earth-sized object long ago. It has faint rings and 27 known moons.
Asteroid Belt
The Asteroid Belt lies between Mars and Jupiter and contains numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets. Ceres, the largest, is also classified as a dwarf planet.
Venus
Venus has a thick, toxic atmosphere that traps heat, resulting in surface temperatures high enough to melt lead. Its atmospheric pressure is more than 90 times that of Earth's. Venus rotates in the opposite direction to most planets.
The Moon
The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite and the fifth largest moon in the Solar System. Its gravity affects Earth's oceans, producing tides. The Moon has a thin atmosphere, and humans first landed on it in 1969.
Pluto (Dwarf Planet)
Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. It has a heart-shaped glacier the size of Texas and Oklahoma. Pluto was demoted from planet status in 2006 by the IAU due to its size and the vicinity of similar objects.
Titan
Titan is Saturn’s largest moon and the second-largest in the Solar System. It has a nitrogen-rich atmosphere, liquid hydrocarbon lakes, and weather patterns similar to Earth's, though far colder.
Saturn
Saturn is famous for its prominent ring system, comprised of ice and rock. It’s a gas giant with the least dense body that could float in water if an ocean large enough could be found. It has 82 known moons, with Titan being the largest.
Olympus Mons
Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the Solar System, located on Mars. It stands at 22 km high and is nearly three times the height of Mount Everest, Earth's tallest mountain.
Kuiper Belt
The Kuiper Belt is a region of the Solar System beyond the orbit of Neptune, filled with icy bodies and dwarf planets like Pluto. It's similar to the Asteroid Belt but far larger.
Mars
Mars is known as the Red Planet due to its iron oxide-rich soil. Evidence suggests ancient rivers once ran across its surface. It has the largest volcano and canyon in the solar system, Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris.
Europa
Europa is one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter and is slightly smaller than Earth's Moon. It has a smooth, icy surface beneath which a vast ocean may exist, making it a strong candidate for extraterrestrial life.
Earth
Earth is the only astronomical object known to harbor life. It has a diverse atmosphere with oxygen and water, which are essential for life as we know it. The Earth's axis tilt creates the seasons.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System and is a gas giant. Its Great Red Spot is a storm larger than Earth that has been raging for at least 350 years. Jupiter has 79 known moons, including the four large Galilean moons.
The Sun
The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star (G2V) at the center of the Solar System. It's composed of hydrogen (~74%) and helium (~25%). The Sun's immense gravity holds the Solar System together.
Neptune
Neptune is the windiest planet in the Solar System, with winds reaching speeds of over 2,000 km/h. It's an ice giant and appears blue due to absorption of red light by atmospheric methane. It has 14 known moons.
Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris is an extensive canyon system on Mars, over 4,000 km long and up to 7 km deep. It spans nearly a fifth of Mars' circumference and is ten times longer than Earth's Grand Canyon.
Io
Io is one of Jupiter’s Galilean moons and is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System. Its surface is dotted with over 400 active volcanoes due to tidal heating from Jupiter's strong gravity.
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