PLANETS AT A GLANCE

SUN

The sun is the most important of all the heavenly bodied, to the inhabitants of the earth.  Its rays supply light and heat etc. not only to the earth but also to the other family members of the solar system.  The Sun controls the motions of all its family members.  Its influence on our day-to-day life is supreme.

EARTH

The earth is the planet on which we live.  Though we claim that we know a lot about our planet but the fact is that our knowledge about the planet is very limited.  It is the third planet in order of the distance from the sun. 

MOON

Moon is the Earth’s only satellite.  Moon is the most important of all the heavenly bodies to us after the Sun.  Like the sun and other planets, it is also moving among the fixed stars in opposite direction (West to east) making a complete revolution in about 27 days 7 hours and 43 minutes i.e., 27.3217 days

MERCURY

Mercury is the first planet in order of distance from the Sun i.e., it is the nearest planet to the Sun. The rotation period of Mercury is approx. 58.65 days

VENUS

Venus is the second nearest planet to the Sun i.e., after mercury it is the next planet nearest to the Sun.  The rotation period of Venus is approx. 584 days.

Mercury and Venus are inner planets which can be seen near the Sun (either east or west).  These are therefore called the morning or evening stars as they are visible either just after the sunset or before the sunrise.

MARS

Mars is the fourth planet in order to distance from the Sun and the nearest outer planet to the earth.  Its rotation period is 780 days.  There are two satellites of Mars named Deimos and Phobos.

JUPITER

Jupiter is the largest planet.  It is more massive planet that all the other planets combined together.  Jupiter shows yellowish disc, crossed by famous cloud belts.

There are sixteen satellites of which the most important are four, namely, Io, europa, Ganymede and Callisto

SATURN

Saturn is the sixth planet in order of distance from the sun.  It is much larger and more massive than any other planet (except Jupiter).  It is surrounded by circular rings which do not touch the surface of the planet.

RAHU AND KETU

Rahu and Ketu are the nodes of the Moon.  When the moon crosses the ecliptic while going from south to north of the ecliptic, it is the ascending node of the moon which is called Rahu and descending node of the moon which is called Ketu.  So Rahu and Ketu are actually not any physical planets but are the points on the plane of ecliptic where the moon crosses it.  This is the reason for calling these two as Chaya Grahas i.e., shadowy planets.  These are also called Dragons head and Dragons tail.

Llewellyn's 2011 Daily Planetary Guide: Complete Astrology-At-A-Glance (Annuals - Daily Planetary Guide)


Rahu Ketu Aarti

Rahu & Ketu ( Moon's Nodes ) in Predictive Astrology