THE PLANETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM CONSISTS OF The sun Eight official planets At least three "dwarf planets" Comets and asteroids

THE SUN THE STAR AT THE CENTER OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM The largest object in the solar system One hundred and nine Earths would be required to fit across the Sun's disk, and its interior could hold over 1.3 million Earths The Sun's outer visible layer is called the photosphere and has a temperature of 6,000°C (11,000°F)

MERCURY About the same size as the Moon Closest planet to the Sun, about 58 million kilometers from the Sun Makes one complete orbit around the Sun every 87.97 days Rotates on its axis very slowly compared to Earth. It completes one rotation in about 58 days and 15 minutes Is covered with mountains, craters, ridges and valleys.

MERCURY Q & A What is Mercury’s average nightly temperature? Temperature ranges from 425 degrees in the day to -170 degrees at night

VENUS The closest planet to the Earth, about the same size as the Earth 2nd planet in order from the Sun, about 108 million kilometers from the Sun Makes one complete orbit around the Sun every 224.7 days Rotates on its axis more slowly than any other planet, it completes one rotation in about 243 days and 24 minutes Is the brightest object in our sky, besides the Sun and Moon.

VENUS Q & A How did Venus get its name? The Romans named the five planets they could visible see after their most important gods. Venus, the brightest planet is named after the Roman goddess of love, beauty, and fertility

EARTH 3rd planet in order from the Sun, It is about 150 million kilometers from the Sun Makes one complete orbit around the Sun every 365.27 days Rotates on its axis about the same speed as Mars (just a little slower). It completes one rotation in about 23 hours and 56 minutes. Is mostly covered by water (75%) Has a total of 1 moon

EARTH Q & A Why is Earth called the “Blue Planet”? Earth is around 70 % water and when viewed from space it appears mostly blue.

MARS THE RED PLANET Its mass (weight) is 1/10th of the Earth, its diameter is 1/2 that of earth 4th planet from the Sun, it is about 228 million kilometers from the Sun Makes one complete orbit around the Sun every 686.98 days Rotates on its axis about the same speed as the Earth. It completes one rotation in about 24 hours and 37 minutes. Has seasons similar to our planet, but they last much longer Has a total of 2 moons

MARS Q & A What are the gases in the atmosphere on Mars? The atmosphere mostly consists of Carbon Dioxide, 95%, there is also Argon and Nitrogen. Mars has a very thin atmosphere.

JUPITER The largest planet, its mass (weight) is over 320 times that of the Earth, its diameter is over 10 times earths 5th planet in order from the Sun, it is about 780 million kilometers from the Sun Makes one complete orbit around the Sun every 11.86 years Rotates on its axis faster than any other planet, it completes one rotation in about 9 hours and 50 minutes Is one of the brightest planets Has a total of 16 moons

JUPITER Q & A What is special about Jupiter? The thing that is special about Jupiter is that it has a big red spot. The big red spot is a storm. Jupiter is cold and rocky.

SATURN 2nd largest planets, its mass (weight) is over 95 times that of the Earth, its diameter is over 10 times that of our planet 6th planet in order from the Sun, It is about 1.4 billion kilometers from the Sun Makes one complete orbit around the Sun every 29.46 years Rotates on its axis at a very fast speed, it completes one rotation in about 10 hours and 39 minutes Is known for the many rings that go around it Has a total of 21 moons

SATURN Q & A Does Saturn have seasons? Yes, Saturn has seasons, like the planet Earth, buts Saturn’s season’s last over 7 years. There is also hurricanes and very cold air on Saturn.

URANUS Composed mainly of hydrogen and helium gases, its mass (weight) is over 14 times that of the Earth, its diameter is 4 times that of Earth 7th planet in order from the Sun, it is about 2.9 billion kilometers from the Sun Makes one complete orbit around the Sun every 84 years Rotates on its axis about the same speed as the Neptune, it completes one rotation in about 17 hours and 14 minutes Can sometimes be seen with the naked eye Has a 15 moons

URANUS Q & A What are the most interesting features of Uranus? The planets is a blue-green color because of methane gas in the atmosphere. It may have lower %’s of light elements and a greater % of water. Also Uranus’s atmosphere is mainly hydrogen and methane.

NEPTUNE Very similar to Uranus in size, its mass (weight) is over 17 times that of the Earth, its diameter is 4 times that of earth 8th planet in order from the Sun, it is about 4.5 billion kilometers from the Sun Makes one complete orbit around the Sun every 164.79 years Rotates on its axis about the same speed as Uranus, it completes one rotation in about 18 hours and 26 minutes Has a weather system that is very active, some storms with winds of 400 miles per hour have lasted for hundreds of years on its surface Has a total of 8 moons

NEPTUNE Q & A What are 3 facts about Neptune? Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun Neptune is the coldest planet Had a great dark spot on the same latitude line as Jupiter's Great red storm

PLUTO Is known now as a dwarf planet, its mass (weight) is 1/500th that of the Earth, its diameter is about 1/6 that of our planet It is about 5.9 billion kilometers from the Sun Makes one complete orbit around the Sun every 248 years Rotates on its axis slowly when compared to Earth, it completes one rotation in about 6 days and 9 minutes Is sometimes known as a double-planet because it has a moon (Charon) that orbits it Has a total of 1 moon

PLUTO Q & A Why is Pluto now considered a dwarf planet? It was declassified because of its strange elliptical orbit as opposed to all the other planets’ orbits which are circular, Pluto’s orbit is the only planet which is elliptical (like and oval) around the sun