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Space Facts
Section B – The Planets
Mercury
Closest planet to the Sun
Takes the least amount of time to orbit the Sun
Not large enough for its gravity to hold onto a moon or much of an atmosphere.
No Moons
Venus
The surface is hot (869) and the atmosphere is dense and contains carbon dioxide and
sulfuric acid.
Second planet from the Sun
Earth
Has volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
Sunlight, a nitrogen and oxygen-rich atmosphere
Large oceans and the greenhouse effect makes climates that supports life.
Third planet from the Sun.
Mars
The largest canyon in the solar system
Called the Red Planet
Valles Marineris, is as wide as the United States.
Might have had running water at one time. Has ice caps
Largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons
Jupiter
The largest planet has an atmosphere of cold hydrogen gas.
It has many moons, so far 17 have been found.
It has a giant red spot that is thought to be a storm
Saturn
Mostly gas, but less dense, making it very light that it could float on water.
It has 18 moons.
It is known for its beautiful rings which are made of millions of bits of ice.
Uranus
Atmosphere of methane gas
set of dark, narrow rings that run from top to bottom, instead of around.
Neptune
Is the bluest planet because of its methane gas atmosphere
Its moon, Triton, has volcanoes
Crosses Pluto’s path as it orbits the Sun
Has a set of dark rings
Pluto
Does not have a thick atmosphere
Discovered in 1930
Has one moon called Charon
Smallest planet
Covered by layers of ice
Asteroids
A wide belt of small objects that orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.
Sometimes called minor planets.
Might be the remains of planets pulled apart or leftovers from the formation of the solar
system
Meteors
Parts or pieces of meteoroids that fall from space
No bigger than a grain of sand
Sometimes called a Shooting star.
Meteoroids
Part of the dust and gas trail left behind by a comet
Meteorite
A piece of rock that falls and lands on the Earth from space
Comets
These are chunks of ice and rock left over from the formation of our solar system
They move around the Sun in a long oval-shaped orbits
How are meteors related to comets?
Meteors are the dust and rock particles that fall from the tail of a comet
Scientist attempt to find out if there is other intelligent life in the universe
Scientist use radio telescopes to try to detect signs of life sending coded messages called
SETI into space