The Solar System

Click on a planet to find out more. Click on the next arrow when you’re done. Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Neptune Uranus Pluto

Mercury The planet closest to the sun. Named after the Roman god Mercury, the winged messenger. Travels round the Sun faster than any other planet, in 88 days. It is two-fifths the size of the Earth, the smallest in the solar system. The atmosphere is made up of helium and hydrogen. It has no satellites or rings.

Venus The second closest planet to the sun. Named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Travels round the Sun in 225 days. It is the closest planet in size to the Earth. The atmosphere is made up of 95% carbon dioxide. It has no satellites or rings. It can reach 202˚C on the surface. You can see it with the naked eye.

Earth The planet is third closest to the sun. It isn’t perfectly round, it is flatter at the poles. It appears to be the only planet with water (70% of the surface). The atmosphere is made up of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen. It has 1 satellite, no rings.

Mars The fourth planet from the sun. Named after the Roman god of war because of its blood-red colour (caused by the iron rich dust). Travels round the Sun in 687 days. It has polar ice caps. The atmosphere is made up 95% carbon dioxide. It has 2 satellites and no rings.

Jupiter The fifth planet from the sun, and is separated from Mars by an asteroid belt. It is the largest planet in the solar system, and so is named after the most important Roman god. It is 11 times the diameter of the Earth. Travels round the Sun in 12 years. The surface is made up of hot gas and liquid. It has 63 satellites and 4 rings.

Saturn The sixth planet from the sun. Named after the Roman god of farming. Travels round the Sun in 29 years. It is the second largest planet, approximately 10 times larger than Earth in diameter. The atmosphere is made up of helium and hydrogen. It has 31 satellites 7 rings made up of ice particles. Surface temperature is about -180˚C.

Uranus The seventh planet from the sun. Named after an ancient Greek sky god. Originally named after King George III. Travels round the Sun in 84 years. It is twice as far from the sun as Saturn. The atmosphere is made up of helium, methane and hydrogen, little is known about its surface. It has 27 satellites and 11 rings.

Neptune The eighth planet from the sun. Named after the Roman sea god. Travels round the Sun in 165 years. It is about 4 times larger than the Earth in diameter. The atmosphere is made up of helium, methane, ammonia and hydrogen. It has 13 satellites and 4 rings. The surface temperature is -214˚C.

Pluto This was downgraded from a planet to dwarf planet in Pluto is an alternative name for Hades, Greek god of the Underworld. Travels round the Sun in 248 years. It is approximately 1/3 the volume of the Moon. The surface temperature is a very chilly -230˚C. It was only discovered in It has 3 satellites.

Click on the largest planet: Jupiter Saturn Neptune Uranus

Click on the planet closest in size to the Earth: Venus Mercury Jupiter Mars

Which of these planets has no rings? Mars Saturn Neptune Uranus

Label the planets and write a paragraph about each one: Inner planets

Label the planets and write down a fact about each one: Outer planets

Solar System Videos Space School Video (you’ll need Quicktime to view the video)

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