________________________________________________________________ | | | THE SOLAR SYSTEM | |________________________________________________________________| | | | | | | | | MEAN DISTANCE | PERIOD OF | | | | NAME | FROM SUN (IN | REVOLUTION | DIAMETER | NUMBER OF | | | MILLIONS OF | AROUND SUN | (IN MILES) | SATELLITES | | | MILES) | (IN YEARS) | | | |_________|_______________|____________|____________|____________| | | | | | | | MERCURY | 36.0 | 0.24 | 3030 | 0 | | VENUS | 67.2 | 0.62 | 7700 | 0 | | EARTH | 92.9 | 1.00 | 7918 | 1 | | MARS | 141.5 | 1.88 | 4230 | 2 | | JUPITER | 483.3 | 11.86 | 86500 | 9 | | SATURN | 886.0 | 29.46 | 73000 | 10 | | URANUS | 1781.9 | 84.02 | 31900 | 4 | | NEPTUNE | 2971.6 | 164.78 | 34800 | 1 | | SUN | ------ | ------ | 866400 | -- | | MOON | ------ | ------ | 2163 | -- | |_________|_______________|____________|____________|____________| FIG. 27] [Illustration: ______________________________________ | | | STAR DISTANCES | |______________________________________| | | | DISTANCE IN | | STAR LIGHT-YEARS | | | | POLARIS 76 | | CAPELLA 49.4 | | RIGEL 466 | | SIRIUS 8.7 | | PROCYON 10.5 | | REGULUS 98.8 | | ARCTURUS 43.4 | | [ALPHA] CENTAURI 4.29 | | VEGA 34.7 | |______________________________________| | | | SMALLER MAGELLANIC CLOUD 32,600[A] | | GREAT CLUSTER IN HERCULES 108,600[A] | |______________________________________| [A] ESTIMATED FIG. 28 The above distances are merely approximate and are subject to further revision. A "light-year" is the distance that light, travelling at the rate of 186,000 miles per second, would cover in one year.]