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THE PLANETS
FACT CAT
What are planets
made of?
lanet is
Which p st?
e
the bigg
Is there life on
other planets?
The author, Alice Harman, is a writer and editor specialising in children’s educational publishing.
The consultant, Kate Ruttle, is a literacy expert and SENCO, and teaches in Suffolk.
THE PLANETS
The Planets explores each of the eight planets in our solar system,
from boiling-hot Mercury to freezing-cold Neptune. Amazing photos
taken by spacecraft show us what these extraordinary planets look like.
FACT CAT
Join Fact Cat on a journey of fun, learning
about every subject under the Sun!
THE
FACT CAT
S
T
E
N
A
L
P
Titles in the Space series
978 0 7502 8222
FACT CAT
THE MOO
FACT CAT
THE EARTH
N
THE
2
FACT CAT
THE SUN
FACT CAT
PLANETS
Alice Harman
Alice Har
978 0 7
man
978 0 7
man
Alice Harman
Alice Har
502 822
Alice Harman
978 0 7502 8220 8
Alice Harman
502 822
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39
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THE
FACT CAT
PLANETS
Alice Harman
CONTENTS
FACT CAT
Get your paws on this fantastic new
mega-series from Wayland !
Join our Fact Cat on a journey of fun
r the sun!
learning about every subject unde
First published in 2014 by Wayland
© Wayland 2014
Wayland
Hachette Children’s Books
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
Wayland Australia
Level 17/207 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Picture and illustration credits:
Chabluk, Stefan: 7, 11; Donohoe, William: 4-5;
NASA: 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22;
Shutterstock: Marcel Clemens 8, Maciej Sojka cover
and title page
Every effort has been made to clear copyright.
Should there be any inadvertent omission,
please apply to the publisher for rectification.
Produced for Wayland by
White-Thomson Publishing Ltd
www.wtpub.co.uk
+44 (0) 843 208 7460
All rights reserved
Editor: Alice Harman
Design: Rocket Design (East Anglia) Ltd
Fact Cat illustrations: Shutterstock/Julien Troneur
Other illustrations: Stefan Chabluk/Bill Donohue
Consultant: Kate Ruttle
A catalogue for this title is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978 0 7502 8222 2
Dewey Number: 523.4-dc23
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Wayland is a division of Hachette Children’s Books,
an Hachette UK company.
www.hachette.co.uk
Printed and bound in China
FACT
FACT
CAT
There is a question for you
to answer on each spread
in this book. You can check
your answers on page 24.
Our solar system . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Venus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Jupiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Saturn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Uranus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Neptune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
CONTENTS
FACT CAT
Get your paws on this fantastic new
mega-series from Wayland !
Join our Fact Cat on a journey of fun
r the sun!
learning about every subject unde
First published in 2014 by Wayland
© Wayland 2014
Wayland
Hachette Children’s Books
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
Wayland Australia
Level 17/207 Kent Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Picture and illustration credits:
Chabluk, Stefan: 7, 11; Donohoe, William: 4-5;
NASA: 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22;
Shutterstock: Marcel Clemens 8, Maciej Sojka cover
and title page
Every effort has been made to clear copyright.
Should there be any inadvertent omission,
please apply to the publisher for rectification.
Produced for Wayland by
White-Thomson Publishing Ltd
www.wtpub.co.uk
+44 (0) 843 208 7460
All rights reserved
Editor: Alice Harman
Design: Rocket Design (East Anglia) Ltd
Fact Cat illustrations: Shutterstock/Julien Troneur
Other illustrations: Stefan Chabluk/Bill Donohue
Consultant: Kate Ruttle
A catalogue for this title is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978 0 7502 8222 2
Dewey Number: 523.4-dc23
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Wayland is a division of Hachette Children’s Books,
an Hachette UK company.
www.hachette.co.uk
Printed and bound in China
FACT
FACT
CAT
There is a question for you
to answer on each spread
in this book. You can check
your answers on page 24.
Our solar system . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Venus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Jupiter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Saturn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Uranus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Neptune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
R
A
L
O
S
R
U
O
SYSTEM
The dotted line betw
een
Mars and Jupiter sh
ows
an area where ther
e
are many asteroids.
These are small chun
ks
of rock and metal
that
orbit the Sun.
There are eight planets in Earth’s
solar system. A solar system is
made up of planets that orbit,
or move around, a star.
The star in our solar
system is the Sun.
The Sun gives out
light and heat.
Ura n
une
N e pt
Mercu ry
h
Eart
Ven us
M a rs
Earth’s m
oon
er
Ju pit
rn
S at u
us
FACT
FACT
CAT
Until 2006, people said that
there were nine planets in our
Apart from Earth,
all these
planets are named
after ancient
Roman gods and go
ddesses.
Which planet is the
only one
named after a godd
ess?
Earth and five of the other planets have
moons. These are large objects that are
made of rock or ice. They orbit a planet,
while that planet orbits the Sun.
solar system. The ninth planet
was called Pluto, but this is now
called a dwarf planet instead.
4
5
R
A
L
O
S
R
U
O
SYSTEM
The dotted line betw
een
Mars and Jupiter sh
ows
an area where ther
e
are many asteroids.
These are small chun
ks
of rock and metal
that
orbit the Sun.
There are eight planets in Earth’s
solar system. A solar system is
made up of planets that orbit,
or move around, a star.
The star in our solar
system is the Sun.
The Sun gives out
light and heat.
Ura n
une
N e pt
Mercu ry
h
Eart
Ven us
M a rs
Earth’s m
oon
er
Ju pit
rn
S at u
us
FACT
FACT
CAT
Until 2006, people said that
there were nine planets in our
Apart from Earth,
all these
planets are named
after ancient
Roman gods and go
ddesses.
Which planet is the
only one
named after a godd
ess?
Earth and five of the other planets have
moons. These are large objects that are
made of rock or ice. They orbit a planet,
while that planet orbits the Sun.
solar system. The ninth planet
was called Pluto, but this is now
called a dwarf planet instead.
4
5
MERCURY
nly one
So far, o
een
as ever b
h
t
f
a
r
c
space
you find
n
a
C
.
y
r
u
to Merc
?
was there
it
n
e
h
w
out
Mercury is the closest planet to
the Sun, so it can get extremely
hot. However, the planet also
cools down quickly. This means
that it can be very cold at night.
Deep inside Mercury
, there
is a lot of iron. Thi
s metal
is also found on Ea
rth.
We use iron to mak
e
buildings and machi
nes.
T
C
A
F
CA
FACTT
The temperature on Mercu
ry can
reach 430 C. This is more tha
n
seven times hotter than the
highest
temperature ever recorded on
Earth!
o
6
Mercury is the smal
lest planet in the so
lar system.
It is mostly made of
metal. It has a thin
surface
layer of rock around
its metal core.
7
MERCURY
nly one
So far, o
een
as ever b
h
t
f
a
r
c
space
you find
n
a
C
.
y
r
u
to Merc
?
was there
it
n
e
h
w
out
Mercury is the closest planet to
the Sun, so it can get extremely
hot. However, the planet also
cools down quickly. This means
that it can be very cold at night.
Deep inside Mercury
, there
is a lot of iron. Thi
s metal
is also found on Ea
rth.
We use iron to mak
e
buildings and machi
nes.
T
C
A
F
CA
FACTT
The temperature on Mercu
ry can
reach 430 C. This is more tha
n
seven times hotter than the
highest
temperature ever recorded on
Earth!
o
6
Mercury is the smal
lest planet in the so
lar system.
It is mostly made of
metal. It has a thin
surface
layer of rock around
its metal core.
7
VENUS
Venus is a much hotter
planet than Mercury,
even though it is
further away from
the Sun. This is
because Venus has
a thick layer of
carbon dioxide
gas around it.
The gas traps
the heat from
the Sun.
T
C
A
F
T
CA
FACT
uld be
If you went to Venus, you wo
e the
squashed flat! This is becaus
times
air around you would be 92
heavier than it is on Earth.
8
ore
and m d
e
r
o
un
is m
s aro
a
g
There
e
id
on
olluti
n diox
p
o
b
f
r
o
a
c
e
ecaus
s and
b
e
n
,
a
h
l
t
p
ro
Ear
his
rs, ae
a
c
ight t
m
m
w
fro
Ho
ries.
o
t
lanet?
c
p
a
f
e
h
et
chang
Venus is the closes
t planet to Earth, b
ut humans could
not survive there. A
s well as being far to
o hot,
it also has no liquid
water. The rain on V
enus is
strong acid that wou
ld badly burn your sk
in.
It is difficult to see
the surface of Venu
s,
as thick clouds of
poisonous gas surr
ound
the planet. This pict
ure
has been coloured to
clearly show the clou
ds.
9
VENUS
Venus is a much hotter
planet than Mercury,
even though it is
further away from
the Sun. This is
because Venus has
a thick layer of
carbon dioxide
gas around it.
The gas traps
the heat from
the Sun.
T
C
A
F
T
CA
FACT
uld be
If you went to Venus, you wo
e the
squashed flat! This is becaus
times
air around you would be 92
heavier than it is on Earth.
8
ore
and m d
e
r
o
un
is m
s aro
a
g
There
e
id
on
olluti
n diox
p
o
b
f
r
o
a
c
e
ecaus
s and
b
e
n
,
a
h
l
t
p
ro
Ear
his
rs, ae
a
c
ight t
m
m
w
fro
Ho
ries.
o
t
lanet?
c
p
a
f
e
h
et
chang
Venus is the closes
t planet to Earth, b
ut humans could
not survive there. A
s well as being far to
o hot,
it also has no liquid
water. The rain on V
enus is
strong acid that wou
ld badly burn your sk
in.
It is difficult to see
the surface of Venu
s,
as thick clouds of
poisonous gas surr
ound
the planet. This pict
ure
has been coloured to
clearly show the clou
ds.
9
EARTH
Animals and plants can survive on
Earth because it is just the right
distance from the Sun. This means
it is neither too hot nor too cold
for them. Most of the Earth’s
surface is covered in water,
which almost all living
things need.
cr u st
mantle
outer co
re
in n e
r co
re
FACT
FACT
is
ocean
e
h
t
in
many
Water
d
n
a
s
ink
Human
not dr
salty.
n
a
c
s
l
w
anima
ou kno
y
other
o
D
ater.
at
ter th
salty w
a
w
l
l
a
ec
?
lt in it
what w
a
s
e
v
ot ha
does n
10
CAT
Earth is the third pl
anet from
the Sun, and the fift
h largest
planet in the solar sy
stem.
It is mostly made of
rock, but
it has a metal core.
Under its
surface, it is so hot
that rock
turns to liquid.
The surface of the Earth is
made up of huge sheets of
rock that move around on the
liquid rock below. They can
cause earthquakes when
they crash into each other.
11
EARTH
Animals and plants can survive on
Earth because it is just the right
distance from the Sun. This means
it is neither too hot nor too cold
for them. Most of the Earth’s
surface is covered in water,
which almost all living
things need.
cr u st
mantle
outer co
re
in n e
r co
re
FACT
FACT
is
ocean
e
h
t
in
many
Water
d
n
a
s
ink
Human
not dr
salty.
n
a
c
s
l
w
anima
ou kno
y
other
o
D
ater.
at
ter th
salty w
a
w
l
l
a
ec
?
lt in it
what w
a
s
e
v
ot ha
does n
10
CAT
Earth is the third pl
anet from
the Sun, and the fift
h largest
planet in the solar sy
stem.
It is mostly made of
rock, but
it has a metal core.
Under its
surface, it is so hot
that rock
turns to liquid.
The surface of the Earth is
made up of huge sheets of
rock that move around on the
liquid rock below. They can
cause earthquakes when
they crash into each other.
11
MARS
called
n
e
t
e
is of
ecaus
b
Mars
’
t
e
n
ed pla wn colour.
r
e
h
‘t
ro
red-b
in
s
t
i
of
he ma
t
s
i
th?
What
f Ear
o
r
u
colo
Mars is the planet that is
most like Earth. It has
volcanoes, deserts and
areas of ice. However,
Mars is much colder
than Earth and has
many more storms.
Mars is the fourth planet fr
om the Sun. It is the
second closest planet to Eart
h. Several spacecraft
and robots have been to Mar
s, but they have not
found any living thing there.
FACT
FACT
CAT
Mars is about half the size
of Earth, but the two planets
y
have the same amount of dr
land. This is because there is
no liquid water on Mars.
12
In 2012, this robot
landed on Mars to lo
ok
for evidence of life.
Billions of years ag
o,
Mars was warm and
wet enough for thin
gs
to live there.
13
MARS
called
n
e
t
e
is of
ecaus
b
Mars
’
t
e
n
ed pla wn colour.
r
e
h
‘t
ro
red-b
in
s
t
i
of
he ma
t
s
i
th?
What
f Ear
o
r
u
colo
Mars is the planet that is
most like Earth. It has
volcanoes, deserts and
areas of ice. However,
Mars is much colder
than Earth and has
many more storms.
Mars is the fourth planet fr
om the Sun. It is the
second closest planet to Eart
h. Several spacecraft
and robots have been to Mar
s, but they have not
found any living thing there.
FACT
FACT
CAT
Mars is about half the size
of Earth, but the two planets
y
have the same amount of dr
land. This is because there is
no liquid water on Mars.
12
In 2012, this robot
landed on Mars to lo
ok
for evidence of life.
Billions of years ag
o,
Mars was warm and
wet enough for thin
gs
to live there.
13
JUPITER
A spacecraft called
Voyager I took this
image. It shows Ju
piter’s
swirling gas clouds.
Jupiter is the biggest
planet in our solar
system. It is so huge
that all the other
seven planets could
fit inside it at once.
At least 67 moons
circle around Jupiter.
s
est moon
g
ig
b
r
u
o
f
an
Jupiter’s
d more th
e
r
e
v
o
c
is
were d
s ago by
400 year
o.
med Galile
a
n
t
is
t
n
s
a scie
the name
t
u
o
d
n
fi
Can you
s?
our moon
f
e
s
e
h
t
of
FACT
FACT
CAT
On Jupiter, there is a giant
hurricane called the Great
Red Spot. This storm is large
r
than Earth. It has been going
on for at least 300 years.
14
Jupiter is called a ‘gas giant’ because it is
a huge planet
that is made mostly of gas. It also has par
ts that are liquid.
It does not have a solid surface like Earth
does. It has a
rocky core, but the rest of the planet is liqu
id and gas.
15
JUPITER
A spacecraft called
Voyager I took this
image. It shows Ju
piter’s
swirling gas clouds.
Jupiter is the biggest
planet in our solar
system. It is so huge
that all the other
seven planets could
fit inside it at once.
At least 67 moons
circle around Jupiter.
s
est moon
g
ig
b
r
u
o
f
an
Jupiter’s
d more th
e
r
e
v
o
c
is
were d
s ago by
400 year
o.
med Galile
a
n
t
is
t
n
s
a scie
the name
t
u
o
d
n
fi
Can you
s?
our moon
f
e
s
e
h
t
of
FACT
FACT
CAT
On Jupiter, there is a giant
hurricane called the Great
Red Spot. This storm is large
r
than Earth. It has been going
on for at least 300 years.
14
Jupiter is called a ‘gas giant’ because it is
a huge planet
that is made mostly of gas. It also has par
ts that are liquid.
It does not have a solid surface like Earth
does. It has a
rocky core, but the rest of the planet is liqu
id and gas.
15
SATURN
The rings in this pict
ure
have been brightly
coloured so that yo
u
can clearly see them
.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. It is
a gas giant like Jupiter, and it is the second
largest planet in the solar system. More than
700 Earths could fit inside Saturn.
t
Ear
Satu rn
16
Saturn’s rings are
made of billions of
pieces of ice, dust
and rock. Some
pieces are as small
as a grain of sand,
but others are as
big as a house.
h
is
t took th
f
a
r
c
e
c
a
p
As
turn and
a
S
f
o
h
p
s
photogra
Sometime
.
3
1
0
2
July
Earth in
away from
r
e
h
t
r
u
f
.
Saturn is
her times
t
o
t
a
n
a
th
the Earth
t this be?
Why migh
FACT
FACT
CAT
Saturn is the lightest planet for
its size in the solar system. It is
so light that it would float
if dropped in water!
17
SATURN
The rings in this pict
ure
have been brightly
coloured so that yo
u
can clearly see them
.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. It is
a gas giant like Jupiter, and it is the second
largest planet in the solar system. More than
700 Earths could fit inside Saturn.
t
Ear
Satu rn
16
Saturn’s rings are
made of billions of
pieces of ice, dust
and rock. Some
pieces are as small
as a grain of sand,
but others are as
big as a house.
h
is
t took th
f
a
r
c
e
c
a
p
As
turn and
a
S
f
o
h
p
s
photogra
Sometime
.
3
1
0
2
July
Earth in
away from
r
e
h
t
r
u
f
.
Saturn is
her times
t
o
t
a
n
a
th
the Earth
t this be?
Why migh
FACT
FACT
CAT
Saturn is the lightest planet for
its size in the solar system. It is
so light that it would float
if dropped in water!
17