PLANETS The word 'planet' originates from a Greek word meaning 'wanderer'. Planets are bodies that revolve around the sun, rotate on their own axes (plural of axis), do not have heat or light of their own and shine only because they reflect sunlight Planet Earth, as seen from the moon. Although the Apollo 11 team spent only two and a half hours on the moon and went only 60 m from their landing capsule, they brought back information that has helped many years of subsequent research. Apart from the earth, seven other major planets revolve around the sun in their respective orbits. The eight planets in order of their distance from the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Earth is the only planet known to support life. The planets orbit the sun in the same direction; the closer they are to the sun, the faster they revolve. The inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) have a shorter period of revolution. Modern science has revoluti...