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Earth and Its Place
In the Solar System
Mrs. Tweedie
May 2006
The solar system is the sun and the
objects that orbit around it.
An orbit is the path an object takes as it
moves around another object in space.
A planet is a large body of rock or
gas that orbits the sun.
Moons are large, rocky objects that
orbit planets.
The sun is the center of the solar
system. It is a star.
A star is a hot ball of glowing gases.
Gravity is the force of one object’s
pull on another.
The inner planets are the four
planets closest to the sun.
Mercury is the planet closest to the
sun. In the daytime Mercury’s
surface is hot enough to melt lead.
Venus rotates backward compared
with most of the other planets.
Earth is the only planet known to
support life.
Mars has the largest volcano in the
solar system.
The outer planets are the five planets farthest
from the sun. They are made mostly of frozen
gases and are much colder than the inner planets.
Jupiter is the solar system’s largest
planet. Two Earth-sized circles could
fit inside Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
Saturn has a large system of rings that
reach 260,000 miles from its surface.
Uranus rolls on its side as it orbits the
sun.
Neptune is the farthest planet from
the sun for a 20-year period when
Pluto crosses its orbit.
Pluto is made of ice. It has a moon
almost as large as it is.
An asteroid is a chunk of rock or metal that
orbits the sun. There are thousands of asteroids
in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
A comet is a large ball of ice and dust
that orbits the sun. A comet is shaped
like a large, flat oval.
My very enormous mother just scoffed up nine pizzas.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto