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An overview of the planets and stars created by: Mrs. Olson The First Observation 9 Planets Mercury Saturn Venus Uranus Earth Neptune Mars Pluto Jupiter Mercury Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It It is a dense and rocky planet. is only about one-third the size of Earth. Venus is the 2nd closest planet to the sun. Venus It is the brightest planet. Venus is covered with thick clouds that create a greenhouse effect that makes it very hot. Earth Earth is the only planet in the solar system that supports life. Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun and the 5th largest planet in the solar system. From space, Earth is often identified by its distinct dark blue oceans, its brown and green landmasses and its snow white clouds. Mars Mars is the 4th planet from the sun. Mars is commonly referred to as the RED PLANET. The atmosphere of Mars is quite different from that of Earth – It is composed primarily of carbon dioxide with small amounts of other gases. Jupiter is the 5th planet from the sun and the 3rd brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus. Jupiter Jupiter It has many moons. has no solid surface which leave nothing to “tie down” its atmosphere. Saturn Saturn It has at least 19 moons. is the 2nd largest planet. Saturn’s rings are made of billions of ice particles. Its surface consists of liquid and gas. Uranus Uranus is the 7th planet from the sun. It is 4 times the size of Earth. Uranus The has at least 22 moons. planet is blue-green in color. Neptune Neptune is the 8th planet from the sun. Neptune was discovered in 1846 (150 years ago). Neptune orbits the sun every 165 years and is 2,790 miles from the sun. Pluto is the 9th planet from our sun. Pluto It is a very small planet. Pluto has 1 moon,Charon, which is ½ the size of Pluto. It is a rocky planet covered with ice and frozen methane. Distance From the Sun 6,000,000,000 5,000,000,000 4,000,000,000 3,000,000,000 2,000,000,000 1,000,000,000 0 Mean Distance from the Sun (km) Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto What about the Earth’s Moon and Sun? The Moon The moon is the 2nd brightest object in the sky after the Sun. The moon orbits around the Earth once per month. Most of the surface is covered with fine dust and rocks. The Sun The sun is the most prominent feature in our solar system. The sun appears to have been active for 4.6 billion years and has enough fuel to go on for another 5 billion years or so. What’s the difference between stars and planets? The planets aren’t as big or as hot as stars, and they can’t make light of their own. They were made from the leftovers of the same gas and dust cloud that gave birth to our star, the Sun. What are stars made of? Stars are made of gases like the air around you. The two main gases in stars are called hydrogen and helium. They are the stars’ fuel. Stars make heat and light from them. Why is Earth special? Our planet is the only one in the solar system with water and living things on it. The Earth gets just the right amount of heat and light from the sun to keep us alive. For more information about our solar system, click on the links below. http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/index.html http://www.solarviews.com/eng/homepage.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/25401/data/system/index.html http://dosxx.colorado.edu/Pluto/1planets.jpg