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SATURN AND NEPTUNE
DISCOVERED
http://adc.astro.umd.edu/adc/quick_ref/hst_saturn_nicmos.jpg
The solar system has eight planets: Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. All
of these planets orbit the Sun, the only star in the solar
system. When they orbit, they revolve around the Sun.
When they rotate, the planets spin on their axis.
Meteorites are masses of rock and metal that float
around in space. If an astronaut were ever to go to space,
and visit the moon, he would be floating around because
it has minimal gravity. Gravity is the force that pulls
objects and people to the center of the planet or celestial
object. On larger planets, there is more gravity, and on
smaller planets, there is less gravity. Many planets also
have moons and rings. For example, Earth has one moon.
The moons orbit around the planet and rotate on their
own axis. Two interesting planets to study is Neptune
and Saturn.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and has 56
moons and seven rings. Saturn’s atmosphere is made up
of mostly hydrogen and helium. It doesn’t have a solid
surface, because it is made up of liquid and gas. Saturn’s
core is made up of iron, silicon, oxygen, and carbon.
Saturn’s diameter is 74,898 miles! If someone could slice
Saturn in half, that person could fit more than 750
Earths into Saturn! The cloud temperature is -285° F,
which is freezing!
Neptune, the eight planet from the sun, has 13
moons, and six rings. The atmosphere of Neptune is made
out of hydrogen, and methane. Its surface is made of
clouds and gas, and its core is solid ice and rock. The
diameter of Neptune is 30,775 miles. As the fourth
largest planet, over 60 Earth’s could fit into Neptune!
Also, Neptune’s outer cloud temperature is -355 °F!
These two planets do not have much in common. One
of the things that does make the planets alike are that
they both do not have firm or solid surfaces. Their
surfaces are made out of gas, clouds, and liquids.
Another thing that these two planets have in common is
that they both have helium, and hydrogen gas in their
atmosphere. The last thing that these two planets have
in common is that they are both outer planets.
Because Saturn and Neptune don’t have a lot in
common, they have many differences. First of all, Saturn
has 56 moons and Neptune has 13 moons. The second
difference is that Saturn’s core is iron (because Saturn is
closer to the Sun), and Neptune’s core is solid ice and
rock( because it is farther away from the Sun). One of
the last differences is that Saturn has seven rings and
Neptune has six rings.
Did you know that Saturday is named after Saturn?
Also, if anyone were to go to Saturn, it would be
extremely stormy! In 1989, a spacecraft called Voyager 2
flew to Neptune to take a close-up photo of Neptune.
Neptune was actually discovered when people were
studying Uranus! There are many other interesting facts
about the Solar System! Now you know more about the
amazing two planets, Neptune and Saturn, their
differences, and how they are alike!
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