Inner vs Outer Planets

Our solar system has eight planets, each orbiting at a different distance from the sun. Based on this, we can classify them into two groups: inner and outer planets.

Let’s begin with the inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, which are closest to the sun.

They are small, dense, and made of solid rock with iron cores, which is why they are also called terrestrial planets.

Their orbits around the Sun are shorter, and they spin slowly.

Among the four, Venus spins in the opposite direction of Earth, and one day on Venus lasts as long as 243 Earth days.

Among these inner planets, Earth has one big moon, Mars has two tiny ones, and Mercury and Venus have none.

Now, let’s look at the outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, the farthest planets from the sun.

These planets are huge and mostly made of gases like hydrogen and helium; they are also known as gas giants.

Unlike the inner planets, the outer planets have many moons and beautiful rings made of dust and other particles.