1. Our Solar System

2. The Sun
The Romans called the sun Sol, which in English means sun. In ancient Greece, the sun was called Helios.
The sun is a yellow star.
We don't often think of the Sun as having cooler areas on its surface. The Sun is far too hot for an astronaut to ever visit, but there are areas which
are slightly cooler than others. These
areas are known as sun spots. Sun
spots are still very hot
The Sun is so large that the Earth could
easily fit inside the Sun a million times.

3. Mercury Mercury is the closest planet to the sun
Mercury is a small and rocky planet (similar to our moon)
Mercury’s surface has craters
Mercury has no moons
Temperatures on Mercury range from -183 degrees to 427 degrees. The average temp is 179
Scientists think that there may be volcano activity on Mercury

4. Venus
Venus is a small rocky planet, blanketed by a thick layer of yellowish clouds
The clouds that surround Venus are formed from a poison called sulphuric acid
Venus is a very hot planet- around 400 degrees!
Venus has no moons
Venus is a similar size to Earth
There are many active volcanoes on Venus
Venus spins very slowly, in the opposite direction to most other planets
Venus is usually visible with the naked eye. It is the brightest “star” in the evening sky

5. Earth Earth is the third closest planet to the sun
Earth is a small, rocky planet that supports a variety of life
Earth is the only planet whose name is not from Greek or Roman mythology
The Earth’s surface is very young
71% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water. Earth is the only planet where water exists in liquid form on the surface
Earth’s oceans keep our planets temperature stable
Earth has 1 moon
Temperatures at the Earth’s centre(called the “core”) is around 7227 degrees which is hotter than the surface of the Sun!

6. Mars Mars is a small and rocky planet (about half the size of Earth)
Mars is known as the ‘Red Planet’ because of its reddish appearance
Mars is a cold and lifeless planet
Mars has two tiny moons
Mars has ice caps at both poles
There are currently 3 spacecrafts orbiting Mars

7. Jupiter
Jupiter is by far the largest planet, (it is 318 times bigger than Earth!)
Jupiter is a giant gas planet and therefore does not have a solid surface
The swirls & bands you can see are the tops of clouds high in the atmosphere
Jupiter has faint rings like Saturn but they are much smaller
Jupiter is usually visible with the naked eye. It is the brightest “star” in the night sky
Jupiter has 4 large moons and many other smaller moons

8. Saturn Saturn is the 2nd largest planet Saturn is a giant gas planet
Saturn’s rings are very bright and are made up of many small particles (mostly water ice) circling Saturn
Wind speeds on Saturn can read 1800 km/h
Saturn has at least 18 moons!

9. Uranus Uranus is the 3rd largest planet
Uranus is a gas planet. Its centre is made up of mostly rock and ice
Uranus spins differently from most other planets- its on a tilt
Uranus has 15 known moons
Like the other gas planets, Uranus has rings around it but they are very, very faint

10. Neptune Neptune is a gas planet
Neptune is our 4th largest planet and our furthest from the Sun (excluding Pluto)
Winds on Neptune are the fastest in our Solar System, reaching 2000km/h
Neptune also has rings but like Uranus and Jupiter, they are very dark and very faint which make them hard to see.
Neptune has 8 known moons- 7 small and 1 large

11. Like Uranus, Pluto seems to be tilted Pluto has 1 main moon
Pluto is a dwarf planet
Pluto is smaller than all of the planets
Pluto is very far from the Sun and is therefore a very dark planet
Very little is known about Pluto and photos of Pluto are not very clear because Pluto is so far away
Pluto has never been visited by a space craft but there is one on its way! (Left Earth 2006 and will reach Pluto 2015!)
Scientists are still unsure of exactly what Pluto is made of- it is thought to be made primarily of rock and ice
Like Uranus, Pluto seems to be tilted
Pluto has 1 main moon

12. Saturn & its moons

13. Venus
Uranus- with its rings and moons circling
Mars

14. Nebula

15. A Super Giant Star
A star

18. References http://kids.nineplanets.org/earth.htm