Figure below shows the relative size of the outer planets and the sun. Most planets in the solar system rotate around their axes in the same direction as they move around the sun. However, that’s roughly where the similarities end. When sunlight is reflected from Uranus, methane clouds filter out red light and give the planet a blue-green color.
On the other hand, outer planets are characterized by features such as enormous size due to the composition of hydrogen and helium gases. Neptune’s winds are the fastest of any planet in the solar system and can reach more than 1,200 miles per hour.
What do all outer planets have in common?
The sun and the massive outer planets had enough gravity to prevent hydrogen and helium from drifting away. Between these planets, they have dozens of moons with a variety of compositions ranging from rocky to icy to even volcanic (as in the case of Jupiter’s Io. Apart from being planets, they all follow an elliptical orbit, all are spherical, and all are made of iron and nickel to some extent. While terrestrial planets were accumulated from planetesimals of rocks and metals, they were too small to capture significant amounts of the abundant hydrogen and helium gas in the solar nebula.
Most planets in the solar system rotate around their axes in the same direction as they move around the sun.
