The Solar System I.C. Giovanni Cena Cerveteri Italy

The Solar System is the Sun and all of the objects in space that orbit (go around) it. The Sun is orbited by planets, moons, asteroids, comets and other things. WHAT IS SOLAR SYSTEM ?

There are eight planets in the Solar System. In order of increasing distance from the Sun, they are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.  ABOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The first four planets are called terrestrial planets. They are mostly made of rock and metal, and they are mostly solid. The last four planets are called gas giants. This is because they are large planets that are mostly made of gas. They also have much more mass than the terrestrial planets.  ABOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The Sun is a star. It contains 99.9 percent of the Solar System's mass. This means that it has strong gravity. The other objects are pulled into orbit around the Sun. THE SUN

TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System. It is the closest planet to the sun. It makes one trip around the Sun once every 88 days. MERCURY

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is a terrestrial planet because it has a solid, rocky surface. VENUS

The Earth is the third planet from the Sun. The Earth is also called the Blue Planet. The Earth is home to millions of species of plants and animals, including humans. Earth is the only place in the universe where life has been confirmed to exist. EARTH

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Mars is dry, rocky and cold. It is home to the largest volcano in the Solar System. Mars is named after the mythological Roman god of war because it is a red planet, which signifies the colour of blood. MARS

GAS GIANTS

Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. It is the fifth planet from the Sun. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant, because it is so large, and is made up mostly of gas. JUPITER

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. It is the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. SATURN

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun in the Solar System. It is the third largest planet in the solar system. The planet is made of ice, gases and liquid metal. URANUS

Neptune is the eighth and last planet from the Sun in the Solar System. It is the fourth largest planet and third heaviest. Neptune has four rings which are hard to see from the Earth. It is 17 times heavier than Earth and is a little bit heavier than Uranus. It was named after the Roman God of the Sea. NEPTUNE

Pluto is a Dwarf Planet. What is a Dwarf Planet? Celestial body orbiting the Sun Massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity BUT has NOT cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals Is not a satellite Unusual orbit caused it to be the 8th planet from ! PLUTO

Let’s compare the planets to Earth

Mercury =3 Earth months Venus=117 Earth days Mars=41 minutes longer than an Earth day Jupiter=10 Earth hours Saturn=10 ½ Earth hours Uranus=13 ½ Earth hours Neptune=18 Earth hours Pluto=7 Earth days A day on

32 lbs on Mercury 77 lbs on Venus 32 lbs on Mars 244 lbs on Jupiter 112 lbs on Saturn 79 lbs on Uranus 105 lbs on Neptune 2.5 lbs on Pluto

The Orbital Speed of the Planets Mercury=30 miles per second Venus=22 miles per second Earth=19 miles per second Mars=15 miles per second Jupiter= 8 miles per second Saturn= 6 miles per second Uranus=4.2 miles per second Neptune=3.3 miles per second Pluto=2.9 miles per second Therefore, the further away from the Sun, the slower the orbital speed.

The Earth has one Moon. How many moons do the other planets have? Mercury-0 Venus-0 Mars-2 Jupiter-17 Saturn-22 Uranus-15 Neptune-2 Pluto-1

Mercury-88 Earth days Venus-225 Earth days Mars-about 2 Earth years Jupiter-11.8 Earth years Saturn-30 Earth years Uranus-84 Earth years Neptune-165 Earth years Pluto-248 Earth years