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The Solar System 
The Solar System showing the planets and the asteroid belt. Major features of the Solar System (not to scale; from left to right): Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, the asteroid belt, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and its Moon, and Mars. A comet is also seen on the left. (Picture courtesy of NASA). Did you know that there are eight planets in the Solar System: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto used to be classified as a planet but on August 24, 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined the term "planet", which excluded Pluto and reclassified Pluto under the new category of dwarf planet along with Eris and Ceres. Other objects in our solar system which are orbiting the Sun besides planets and dwarf planets are known as small Solar System bodies. Solar System SoftwareOrbiter - Orbiter - ORBITER is a free flight simulator that goes beyond the confines of Earth's atmosphere. Launch the Space Shuttle from Kennedy Space Center to deploy a satellite, rendezvous with the International Space Station or take the futuristic Delta-glider for a tour through the solar system - the choice is yours. But make no mistake - ORBITER is not a space shooter. The emphasis is firmly on realism, and the learning curve can be steep. Be prepared to invest some time and effort to brush up on your orbital mechanics background. Good starting points are JPL's Basics of Space Flight, and R. Braeunig's Rocket & Space Technology. Astronomy Software from Astrod SolarInfo - Solar System Information - SolarInfo - SolarInfo is an application that shows some information about the planets and their moons in our solar system. The images are all from real photos. You can use your mouse to manipulate the planet and rotate it in any direction. Note : This application requires a 3D card with OpenGL support. Astronomy Software from Astrod WinJUPOS - WinJUPOS - Database for object positions on planets and the Sun. Freeware solar system software for Windows 98 / Me / 2000 / XP / Vista / 7. Planetary maps are also available for download. Astronomy SoftwareAstronomy Software from AstrodMeridian Free Astronomy Software - Meridian Free Astronomy Software - Meridian runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, Windows NT 4.0, 2000, XP, and can be used by amateur astronomers. Meridian lets you consult information on the observation of the solar system: Sun, Moon and planets. This data is given with text and graphics. Meridian is freeware astronomy software. Meridian is very useful to plan or verify the observations of planetary surfaces and of natural satellites for some planets. Meridian is very user-friendly; the windows presenting planets are sizable. You can see the same object at different dates/hours, print the content of window, list the lunar phases for the current month and many other useful information. The data from Meridian is presented with text and graphics. Astronomy Software from Astrod Astronomy software from Astrod |