1. LET’S
EXPLORE
OUR
SOLAR
SYSTEM

2. Solar System Overview Click Here to View Planets in Orbit
The Solar System is made up of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, dwarf planets, and other objects that orbit the Sun. The bodies in our Solar System are defined into categories as follows:
To be a “planet”, the object must orbit around the Sun, the object must be big enough that gravity makes it into a nearly round shape, and the object must clear the neighborhood around its orbit.
To be a “moon”, the object must orbit something other than the Sun, like another planet.
To be a “dwarf planet”, the object must orbit around the Sun, the object must be big enough that gravity makes it into a nearly round shape, the object does not clear the neighborhood around its orbit, and it is not a moon.
All other objects that orbit the Sun, such as comets and asteroids, are defined as “small solar system bodies.”
Click Here to View Planets in Orbit

3. Inner Planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars
These planets are terrestrial. They are made up of mainly rock and metal, rotate slow, have solid surfaces, few moons, and no rings.
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4. Click here to view our solar system
Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet
to the Sun, and the second
smallest planet in our solar
system. It looks a lot like Earth’s
moon because it is covered
with craters. It gets very
hot (870°F) on Mercury because of
its distance from the sun,
but it also gets very cold (-300°F)
because the planet spins so
slow.
Mercury has NO moons.
1 orbit around Sun: 88 Days
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5. Click here to view our solar system
Venus
Venus, the second planet from the
sun, is an unfriendly planet. It is
covered with thick clouds that trap
most of the Sun’s heat. Venus has
craters, volcanoes, mountains, and
valleys just like Earth, but the planet
is far to hot (850°F) for humans.
Other than the Sun and Moon,
Venus is the brightest object in the
sky.
Venus has NO moons.
1 orbit around Sun: 225
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6. Click here to view our solar system
Earth
Earth, the third planet from
the Sun, is our home planet,
and it is the only planet that
can support human life and
have liquid water (lakes,
oceans, rivers) on its surface.
Earth has one moon, Luna,
that can be seen in the sky
most nights.
1 orbit around Sun: 365 Days
Average Temperature: 45°F
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7. Earth’s Moon Earth’s Moon, Luna, is the fifth
largest moon in the solar system, and
is often considered a “double planet”
to Earth because of its closeness in
size. It is covered with craters,
mountains, and old volcanoes.
Temperatures on Luna range from
very hot during the day, to very cold
at night. Luna does not produce light
on its own. Rather, it reflects light
from the Sun as it orbits Earth.
1 orbit around Earth: 27 Days
Click Here See Our Moon's Phases

8. Click here to view our solar system
Mars “The Red Planet”
Mars, the fourth planet from
the Sun, is often seen in the
night sky due to its brightness
and red color. Mars has
volcanoes and valleys that are
often covered by huge dust
storms. In fact, the biggest
volcano in the solar system
called Olympus Mons is on the
planet Mars.
1 orbit around Sun: 687 Days
Mars has 2 moons.
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9. Outer Planets Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
These planets are jovian. They are made up of mainly gases. They rotate fast, have deep atmospheres, rings, and lots of moons.
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10. Click here to view our solar system
Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet in the
solar system, and it spins really fast.
Its sky is filled with thick clouds
that move around the planet.
Under the clouds lies a large ocean
that meets the sky. This planet has
3 dark rings made up of dust that
aren’t easily seen. Jupiter’s average
temperature is -244°F.
1 orbit around Sun: 4,333 Days
Jupiter has at least 63 moons.
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11. Click here to view our solar system
Saturn
Saturn, the sixth planet from the
sun, is similar to Jupiter except it
is smaller. The clouds on this
planet turn to liquid and the sky
eventually meets the large ocean
on its surface. Saturn has
hundreds of rings made mostly of
ice that are the most beautiful in
all the solar system. It’s average
temperature of -300°F is super
cold.
1 orbit around Sun: 10,759 Days
Saturn has more than 30 moons.
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Uranus
Uranus, the seventh planet from
the Sun, is mostly made up of ice,
and spins on its side due to a
large object crashing into the
planet long ago. Uranus has many
rings, and it is possible that there
is a large ocean under its clouds.
Uranus’ average temperature is
-300°F.
1 orbit around Sun: 30,684 Days
Uranus has 27 known moons.
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13. Click here to view our solar system
Neptune
Neptune, the eighth and
farthest planet from the sun, is
very cold with an average
temperature of -370°F. This planet
is almost identical to Uranus, and
has six rings made of rocks and
dust. It also has the strongest
winds of any planet in the solar
system.
1 orbit around Sun: 60,190 Days
Neptune has 13 known moons.
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14. Click here to view our solar system
The Sun
The Sun is the center of
our solar system. As the
closest star near Earth, the
Sun’s light heats up Earth
making it possible for life to
survive. It is also the largest
object in our solar system.
The inside of the Sun is
much cooler than its
outside, and it completes
one rotation every 24 days at
the equator.
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15. Click here to view our solar system
Comets
Comets (originally known as
snowballs from space) are made
up of lumps of ice and dust.
They orbit the sun in two places
at the edge of the Solar System
known as:
A giant sphere that surrounds the solar system called the Oort cloud.
A place just passed the orbit of Pluto called the Kuiper Belt.
When comets crash into each
other, they change directions
and come into the Inner Solar
System.
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Click here to view Halley’s comet

16. Asteroids Asteroids are large rocks in outer space with round or
irregular shapes. More than
100,000 asteroids lie in a belt
between the planets Mars and
Jupiter. The asteroid belt is
divided into inner and outer
belts. The inner belt contains
asteroids made of metals while
the outer belt contains rocky,
darker asteroids.
Click here to view our
Solar System

17. What Happened to Pluto?? Pluto, formerly the ninth planet in
our solar system, was renamed as a
“dwarf planet” on August 24, 2006.
Not only is Pluto smaller than the
other 8 planets, but it is even
smaller than 7 of the solar system’s
moons. Further, its orbit
overlapped with Neptune’s which
disqualifies it as a “planet” under
the new definition.

18. Inner Planets The Sun Outer Planets
Mercury
Inner Planets
Venus
The Sun
Earth
Mars
Asteroids
Comet
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Outer Planets
Neptune

19. Which planet is also known as the “Red Planet?”
Question 1
Which planet is also known as the “Red Planet?”
Saturn
Mars
Neptune
Jupiter

20. Which of the following planets
Question 2
Which of the following planets
does NOT have rings?
Saturn
Uranus
Jupiter
Venus

21. Question 3 The phases of Earth’s moon include
all of the following EXCEPT:
Full
Crescent
Floating
Gibbous

22. Which object is at the center of our solar system?
Question 4
Which object is at the center of our solar system?
Sun
Pluto
Earth
Uranus