The orbital period of the planets increases with the distance from the Sun. The connection is described in the German astronomer Johannes Kepler’s third law, which reads as follows: “A planet’s orbital period to the second power is proportional to the distance to the sun to the third power.”
This means, for example, that if planet A is four times as far from the sun as planet B, A will have eight times the orbital period of B.
It is therefore quite natural that Neptune, which is the outermost planet, has the longest year, while the orbital period gets shorter for each planet we jump towards the Sun.
The dwarf planet holds the record
However, the Solar System extends further than Neptune. The limit is often set where the gas pressure from outer space and the pressure from the solar wind equalize each other. It happens about 150 billion kilometers from the sun.
The celestial body that has the largest orbit, and yet remains within the boundary of the solar system, is the dwarf planet Eris, which was discovered in 2005.
2023-12-31 12:31:57
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