The Solar System
The relative orbits of our sun and nine (er... make than eight planets, plus the former planet , Pluto) planets is shown here. There is an asteroid belt that lies midway between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Pluto, Ceres and Eris are known formally as minor planes because their sizes do not qualify them are full-fledged planets. Pluto was demoted from its planet status by the IAU in 2006.
All of the planets lie within a few degrees of the "ecliptic plane," as can be seen in the image below. All planets except Uranus have their axis of spin oriented relatively perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. Uranus' spin axis lies roughly in its direction of its orbital path around the sun.
Please contact me if you would like a higher resolution version for your project or report.
All of the planets lie within a few degrees of the "ecliptic plane," as can be seen in the image below. All planets except Uranus have their axis of spin oriented relatively perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. Uranus' spin axis lies roughly in its direction of its orbital path around the sun.
Please contact me if you would like a higher resolution version for your project or report.
| Planet | Orbital Max Radius (106 km) | Orbital Min Radius (106 km) | Orbital Revolution | Planet Rotation | Orbital Speed (km/s) | Axis/Orbit (*) | Mass (**) | Surface Escape Velocity (km/s) |
| Mercury | 69.7 | 45.9 | 88 d | 59 d | 47.9 | 28º/7º | 0.055 | 4.4 |
| Venus | 109 | 107.4 | 224.7 d | (-)243 d | 35 | 3.0º/3.4º | 0.815 | 10.4 |
| Earth (moon) | 152.1 | 147.1 | 365.26 d | 23h,56m,4s | 29.8 | 23º 27'/0º | 1 | 11.2 (2.4) |
| Mars | 249.1 | 206.7 | 687 d | 24h,37m,23s | 24.1 | 23º 59'/1.9º | 0.108 | 5.0 |
| Jupiter | 815.7 | 740.9 | 11.86 y | 9h,50m,30s | 13.1 | 3º 5'/1.3º | 317.9 | 59.5 |
| Saturn | 1507 | 1347 | 29.46 y | 10h,14m | 9.6 | 26º 44'/2.5º | 95.2 | 35.5 |
| Uranus | 3004 | 2735 | 84.01 y | (-)11 h | 6.8 | 82º 5'/0.8º | 14.6 | 21.3 |
| Neptune | 4537 | 4456 | 164.8 y | 16 h | 5.4 | 28º 48'/1.8º | 17.2 | 23.5 |
| Pluto | 7375 | 4425 | 247.7 y | 6d,9h | 4.7 | ---º/17.2º | 0.1 | 1.3 |
* : inclination to ecliptic (Earth's orbital plane)
** : Mass relative to earth
(-) : retrograde motion