Which planet is furthest from the sun?

Which planet is furthest from the sun? Here, many would probably name Pluto. Until a few years ago, that would have been the correct answer. Since 2006, however, something has changed here.

Which planet is farthest from the Sun? It’s no longer Pluto

Our solar system includes eight planets, all of which revolve around the suns. Earth is the closest to the Sun after Mercury and Venus. Neptune, on the other hand, is the furthest away.

• Neptune is the planet in our solar system that is furthest away from the sun. However, this was not always the case. Until 24 August 2006, Pluto was considered the planet furthest from the Sun.

• In 2006, however, Pluto was stripped of its “planet” designation by the International Astronomical Union (IUA) because of a new definition of the term. Pluto has since been considered a dwarf planet, which is equivalent to a large asteroid.

• So Neptune has been the furthest planet from the Sun for a few years. The distance is 4.50 billion kilometres. For comparison, the Earth is 150 million kilometres. Pluto, on the other hand, is 5.97 billion kilometres from the Sun.

• While the Earth takes 365 days, or one year, to orbit the Sun, Neptune takes 165 Earth years.

Gas giant with 14 moons

Neptune is also known as the blue planet. Contrary to initial assumptions, however, the planet is not made of water, but of gas.

• Neptune has a diameter of 49,528 kilometres, 60 times the size of our planet.

• Despite its size, Neptune revolves around itself faster than Earth. In 16 hours and 7 minutes, Neptune has rotated on its axis, whereas the Earth takes 24 hours.

• So far it is known that Neptune has 14 moons that are in its vicinity. Earth, on the other hand, is accompanied by only one satellite.