The Nine Planets

The Nine Planets

A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System

by Bill Arnett

The Nine Planets is an overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets and moons in our solar system.

Interplanetary spacecraft have revolutionized planetary science. Very little of this document would have been possible without the space program.

Contents

Introduction
Express Tour
Overview of the Solar System
The Sun
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
  - The Moon
- Mars
  - Phobos
  - Deimos
- Jupiter
  - Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea and Thebe
  - Io
  - Europa
  - Ganymede
  - Callisto
  - Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Ananke, Carme, Pasiphae and Sinope
- Saturn
  - Pan and Atlas
  - Prometheus and Pandora
  - Epimetheus
  - Janus
  - Mimas
  - Enceladus
  - Tethys, Telesto and Calypso
  - Dione and Helene
  - Rhea
  - Titan
  - Hyperion
  - Iapetus
  - Phoebe
  - Possible new satellites
- Uranus
  - Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda and Puck
  - Miranda
  - Ariel
  - Umbriel
  - Titania
  - Oberon
  - Uranus XVI and Uranus XVII
  - Uranus XVIII
- Neptune
  - Naiad, Thalassa, Despina and Galatea
  - Larissa
  - Proteus
  - Triton
  - Nereid
- Pluto and Charon
- Small Bodies
Other Solar Systems
Seeing the Solar System with your own eyes
Spacecraft involved in planetary science
Glossary of technical terms and proper names
Appendices
- Extrema, the biggest, brightest, etc.
- The Origin of the Solar System
- Copyright Notice

Our knowledge of our solar system is extensive. But it is far from complete. Some of the worlds have never even been photographed up close. The Nine Planets is an overview of what we know today. We are still exploring. Much more is still to come:

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
-- T. S. Eliot

... Introduction ... Overview ... Sun ...