Our solar system is a thing of wonder and something that man has been mystified about since the beginning of time. Certainly for ancient civilizations, the stars, sun and moon held mystical properties. In modern times, perhaps a bit of this mystery has been taken away as modern technology has enabled us to see many of the planets up close, yet, the universe still holds magical appeal for many.

Although we are the center of our own universe, who wouldn’t be humbled by looking up into the sky and seeing the huge planets, many of which dwarf our own planet. After all, the Earth is only a small part of a small solar system which is a small part of the universe.

In the center of our solar system we find the sun. Rotating around that are 8 planets, one of which is the Earth with it’s 1 moon. Other planets have more than 1 moon. In addition to the sun and planets, our solar system contains comets, asteroids and dwarf planets.

By definition, a planet is a body that orbit’s the sun and also has enough mass in which to shape itself spherically and also has no smaller celestial bodies in it’s vicinity. There are 8 planets around our sun - Neptune, Mercury, Uranus, Venus, Saturn, Earth, Jupiter and Mars. Pluto used to be considered a planet, however recent technology has revealed more about it and thus it has been reclassified as a dwarf planet.

Today, much is known about the solar system, but perhaps much is also yet to be discovered. Our ancestors thought everything revolved around the earth and when Galileo proposed it was really the sun that the Earth and other planets revolved around he was criticized - perhaps in 100 years we will discover that some of the things we believe today are, in fact, not true.

Interestingly enough, many of the things we know today about the universe were discovered b y Galileo - even with his primitive telescope. As time went on, other scientists expanded on his work and as technology got better, it allowed closer views of celestial bodies.

Today, anyone can study the solar system right from their own home with a telescope. You don’t have to be a scientists to enjoy looking at our neighboring planets close up or to get a glimpse of a comet streaking across the sky.