The Sun

The Sun is made mostly of a gas called hydrogen

The core of the sun is made of a gas called
helium
Sunspots are cooler areas of the Sun that look
like dark spots on its surface
The temperature on the surface of the Sun is
about 10,000F.
The Suns centre (or core) is 27 times wider than
Earth and has a temperature of 15 million celcius
Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun

During the day Mercury is hot (up to 427c
over four times hotter than boiling water!), but
at night it is freezing cold. This is because
there is no atmosphere to keep the Suns heat
near to the planet.
Mercury is a rocky planet with a large metal
core made of iron and nickel.
There is no water on Mercury and it is
covered in craters.
It takes Mercury 88 Earth days to orbit the
Sun.
Mercury is 57.9 million km from the Sun.
Venus

Is the second planet from the Sun and

the closest planet to Earth. It is
108,000,000 km from the sun.
Venus has an atmosphere. A layer of
thick, swirling clouds hides the surface of
Venus.
Venus atmosphere contains carbon
dioxide
The clouds trap the Suns heat and it is
hotter on Venus than on Mercury.
The clouds contain acid.
Much of the surface of Venus is covered
in lava from the many volcanoes on the
surface of Venus.
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun

Earth is the only planet known in the solar
system to have life.
Much of the Earths surface is covered in
water
Earth is constantly spinning, causing only
half of its surface to face the Sun at any one
time.
Earth is 149.6 million km from the Sun
The Earths atmosphere contains oxygen.
The Moon

The Moon circles the Earth every 28 days

The side of the moon facing the sun is often
hotter than boiling water (123c), but the other
side is freezing cold (-163c).
There is no air on the moon
The moon is the only celestial body in the
solar system that astronauts have visited.
The moon is 384,400km from Earth.
The Moon has many craters.
The dark patches on the surface of the Moon
are known as seas they formed millions of
years ago from solid lava.
Mars

Is sometimes called the Red Planet because

it looks red in the sky from Earth.
Mars is mostly dry desert with craters, canyons
and volcanoes.
There are few clouds that cover Mars. The
clouds are made of ice, so no rain falls.
Mars is 228 million km from the Sun.
It takes 687 days to orbit the Sun.
Mars has two moons Deimos and Phobos.
Jupiter

Is the largest planet in the Solar System

Jupiter has a thin, faint ring around it. It is made
from time specks of dust. This cant be seen from
Earth.
Jupiter has 63 moons according to NASA called
the Galileo moons. They have been discovered by
the Galileo space probe.
The Giant red spot seen on Jupiter is a huge storm
in Jupiters clouds
Jupiter takes 11.9 years to orbit the Sun.
Jupiter is 778,000,000 km from the Sun.
Jupiter is not a frozen planet because pressurized
hydrogen gas at the heart of the planet is
generating heat.
Saturn

Saturn has a thin, wide system of rings made of millions

of icy chunks of rock moving around the planet.
Saturn is the lightest planet in the solar system
Saturn is nine times wider than the Earth.
It takes Saturn 29.5 years to orbit the sun.
Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen and helium/
NASA says there are at leaset 31 moons around Saturn.
Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system
Saturn is spinning so fast that it appears to bulge out in
the middle, and be squashed at the poles.

It is 1,429,000,000 km (1,429 million km) from the Sun

Uranus

The third largest planet in the solar system

Blue and green clouds surround Uranus
It was the first planet to be discovered in
1781 by a telescope.
It is 2, 870 million km away from the Sun
There are at least 22 moons
It takes 84 years to orbit the Sun.
Neptune

Is the smallest gas planet and eighth planet

from the Sun.
Blue clouds and white clouds cover the
surface of Neptune
It is 4, 504 million km from the Sun
It takes about 165 Earth years to orbit the
Sun
Winds around Neptune can reach 2,000 km
an hour a Formula One car can reach
around 250km an hour.
Neptune has 12 moons.
Pluto

Is no longer regarded as a planet

Recently scientists have discovered that Pluto is made
up only of rock and ice and is 5 times lighter than Earth,
and 3 times smaller.
Scientists now call Pluto a dwarf planet, because it is
comparatively smaller.
Pluto takes 248 years to travel once around the Sun
Pluto is 4,425 million km from the Sun. Its orbit can
take it as far as 7, 375 million km away from the Sun!
It takes 12 years fro a space probe to get there, so we
know relatively little about Pluto!