1. Our Solar System… 4 terrestrial planets… (M,V,E,M)
then a big asteroid belt…
4 gas giant planets… (J,S,U,N)
and Pluto, an ice dwarf.

2. … and here’s a rough idea of just how small we actually are…
…and how gigantically huge the sun is…
…The sun is about 110 times the diameter of the Earth…
… You could fit more than 1000,000 Earths inside it …
… and it’s more than 300,000 times the mass of the earth …

3. So what other objects do we find in our solar system…?
Moons – it is not just our planet that has a moon. Many of the other planets have numerous moons, and some are even a similar size to the Earth!
These are the four largest moons of Jupiter: Io
Europa
Ganymede
and Callisto

4. So what other objects do we find in our solar system…?
Satellites – These serve a wide range of uses. They orbit the planets, just like moons. We use satellites for observation, weather and land monitoring, relaying communication signals, carrying
telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope, and much more!
Asteroids – These are basically large-ish lumps of rock. They are orbiting the sun, but are too small to be considered planets. Most of them are in a big “belt” between Mars and Jupiter.

5. …and comets – basically big lumps of ice and dust.
Comets orbit the sun…
…and they move in massive
elliptical (oval) orbits…
…the tail of a comet can be
longer than the distance from the
Earth to the Sun…

6. …and in fact comets actually have two tails…
…which point in different directions…

7. …and what about beyond our solar system…?
…our galaxy is home to about 100 billion other stars..!
…and there are around a billion other galaxies besides ours…!