The Outer Planets

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The outer planets, also known as the gas giants, consist of four planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Each of these four giant bodies of gas are primarily made up of hydrogen and helium, making them more consistent with the makeup of our sun.

The first is Jupiter. The king of the outer world. The planet we pay many regards to, in the fact that if it were not for this planet, life on Earth may not be in existence. Jupiter plays a huge role in keeping asteroids from slamming into the inner planets, along with keeping the nature of the asteroid belt in place where it’s currently established. Jupiter is also known as a failed sun. Although it’s huge compared to all other planets, it never did reach the mass needed in order to enact the nuclear fusion needed to create heat and light. Beyond Jupiter lies Saturn. Probably the most beautiful object in our solar system. Saturn is undeniably the easiest planet to spot or name. I would bet anyone who has ever seen a picture of this planet would recognize it for the rest of their lives. Saturn is engulfed in a series of rings that give it its unique and exquisite look. Next in the order of planets, you have Uranus. It’s natural rotation is a little odd. Uranus is tilted in a way that makes it seem as though its poles are on the west and east instead of in the north and south just to give you a visual cue. Instead of having it’s rings circling around the planet at its equator, they are oriented to a point that they circle around its northern and southern hemispheres. The planet is basically tilted sideways. Finally we have my favorite planet, Neptune. The god of the seas. That big blue ball in the sky. Neptune has a weird orbit. Back in the day when Pluto was a planet, every few hundred years or so, Neptune and Pluto would switch off being the furthest planet away from the sun. Now that Pluto is no longer a planet, Neptune will always reside as the farthest planet from the sun. Until….. We find this mysterious planet X that astronomers have recently calculated. Beyond Neptune, is the dwarf planet Pluto, has one dominate moon named Charon along with two others that we can see from our location. Further past Pluto is the Kuiper belt. Another belt of small rocky, icy bodies where comets are believed to originate.