FAQ

Pluto isn’t considered a planet because it hasn’t cleared the neighborhood around its orbit of other objects. However, it does meet IAU’s criteria for what constitutes a dwarf planet.

By studying several things, mostly meteorites, and using radioactive dating techniques, specifically looking at daughter isotopes, scientists have determined that the Solar System is 4.6 billion years old.

The answer is NO! Mercury isn't the hottest planet, it's actually Venus! On its sunny side, Mercury can reach a scorching 800 degrees Fahrenheit! But Venus is a lot hotter than that. Many people think that Mercury is the hottest planet because it is the nearest to the sun, but no. Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction from most planets. Its thick atmosphere traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in our solar system with surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead. Venus contains a high percentage of carbon dioxide due to which it is hottest planet.

Venus' surface photo

Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust. The cloud collapsed, possibly due to the shockwave of a nearby exploding star, called a supernova. When this dust cloud collapsed, it formed a solar nebula—a spinning, swirling disk of material which is now our Solar System.

The sun's light takes about 8.3 minutes to reach the Earth after it has been emitted from the sun's surface.