Closest Planet To The Sun

Nasa to peer through Jupiter's stormy clouds for first time

Skimming 3,100 miles above Jupiter's colourful clouds – the closest any spacecraft has got to Jupiter – the 66 feet wide Juno probe will spend a year looking deep inside the giant gas planet.

Scientists hope to discover whether a mysterious material called metallic hydrogen exists inside Jupiter's atmosphere, where the pressure is so great that hydrogen gas is squeezed into a metal-like fluid that can conduct electricity.

This material is thought to be responsible for the planet's intense magnetic field and may drive the turbulent storms in the gas above.

Dr Scott Bolton, the mission's principal investigator and director of the Southwest Research Institute's Space Science Division, said: "Juno will be the first time we will be able to see down into the planet, through the clouds and see how deep the features we can see go into the planet.

"They may be just a thin outer skin or may represent something more important about Jupiter's structure and rotation."

Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, is 1,321 times the size of the Earth. Violent, swirling storms and vortices thousands of miles wide sweep across its surface and are thought to be driven by wind. Lightning flashes have also been seen on the planet.

Although Jupiter is around 450 million miles from Earth, Juno will perform an elaborate loop around the Earth to build up speed with the help of our planet's gravity.

The three ton spacecraft is due to arrive at Jupiter in July 2016 where it will begin to orbit the planet for a year.

Three huge solar panel arms will help power the spacecraft in a part of the solar system that receives 25 times less sunlight than the Earth.

On board it is carrying a suite of eight instruments to help it reveal clues about how Jupiter formed and evolved.

Among the key questions that scientists hope to answer is about what sits at Jupiter's core. As a gas giant, most of the planet is made up of gas, squeezed and heated by extreme pressures.

Some astrophysicists believe, however, that Jupiter may have a solid core.

Scientists behind the mission also hope the probe will help to reveal secrets about how the solar system formed.

As a gas giant it formed early in the solar system's history while rocky planets formed later, and due to its huge size it will have lost little of the original material that made it up.

Order of the Planets From The Sun – Planet Closest Distance to the Sun

The solar system is a group of celestial bodies orbiting around the dwarf star called the Sun. The main members of the solar system are eight major planets, and their satellites. Other interesting members are comets, meteors and meteorites and dwarf planets. The order of the planets from the Sun from nearest to the farthest is Mercury, Venus, earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn Uranus, and Neptune.

The nearest planet to the Sun is Mercury. Though it is very near to the Sun, it is not the hottest planet at all. The smallest among the inner planets has actually temperature of 450 degrees Celsius during day time while it drops to a very frigid negative 170 degrees Celsius at night. It is named after the Roman messenger of the Gods as it orbits the Sun once every 88 days.

The second planet from the Sun is named after the Roman Goddess of Beauty, Venus. True to its name, this beautiful planet is also called the evening star. It is also the hottest planet in the solar system due to clouds of toxic gas with temperatures over 460 degrees Celsius. It rotates backward and makes one complete revolution around the Sun in 225 days.

The third planet from the Sun is Earth, the beautiful blue planet blessed with a diversity of living organisms of varying shapes and sizes. It is the only planet known to sustain life. It makes a complete revolution around the Sun for 365 days. It has one satellite called the Moon.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is named after the Roman God of War. It is usually called the red planet. A Martian year is equivalent to 687 Earth days. It is usually the third brightest object of the night sky after Earth’s moon and Venus. The possibility of life on Mars is still a subject of probes and studies. By the way, Mars has similar seasons as here on Earth.

The biggest planet, Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. Although it has the greatest volume among the planets, it has the lowest density. It is separated from the inner planets by the asteroid belt where many other interesting heavenly bodies orbit around the Sun.

Saturn is the second of the outer planets and is the sixth in order from the Sun. Many astronomers tag it as the most beautiful planet because of its prominent rings made up of ice, dust, gas, and other particles.

Uranus is the third of the outer planets, the seventh in order from the Sun. This planet has a very low density and is made up of a large proportion of gas. It is also referred to as an ice giant because a decent percentage of its gases are trapped in ice form. It has faint rings.

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