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Which is the nearest planet to the sun?
By BYJU'S Exam Prep
Updated on: September 25th, 2023
The nearest planet to the sun is mercury. One orbit around sun in 88 days and One spin on axis in 59 days. The solar system contains eight planets. Mercury, Earth, Venus, Uranus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune are the planets in the solar system in order from closest to farthest away.
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Nearest Planet to Sun
The solar system also contains eight planets. These planets are large, roughly spherical bodies that revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits called orbits. Earth is also a planet, and because it is far from the Sun, it is neither too hot nor too cold for life. These planets formed at least 4.6 billion years ago when the disk of dust and gas orbiting the Sun collapsed under the force of gravity and coalesced.
There are two types of planets.
- The rocky planets include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, mostly solid rocks and metals.
- Gas giant planets include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, which are mainly composed of gases such as hydrogen, helium, and methane. These planets are very large compared to rocky planets.
The solar system also contains small, irregularly shaped objects made of rock, metal, and carbon called asteroids that orbit the Sun. Most of these objects lie between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt.
Summary:
Which is the nearest planet to the sun?
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. The gravitationally bound system of the sun and the objects that orbit it is the solar system. The solar system is huge, held together by the sun’s immense gravitational pull that keeps planets and asteroids in orbit.