The solar system Marina Cunill Primer A

WHAT IS IT? It is our Sun and everything that travels around it. Our solar system is in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way is an spiral Galaxy. Earth is located on one arm of the spiral.

STARS, GALAXIES AND PLANETS A planet is an object orbiting a star that is large enough to be rounded by its own gravity. There are eight planets in the Solar System.

THE MILKY WAY We live in one of the arms of a large spiral galaxy called the Milky Way. The Sun and its planets (including Earth) lie in this quiet part of the galaxy, about half way out from the centre.

ASTEROIDS AND THE ASTEROID BELT Asteroid: Are small solar system bodies that orbit the Sun. Made of rock and metal, they also contain organic compounds. Asteroids are similar to comets but do not have a visible coma (fuzzy outline and tail) like comets. Asteroid Belt: The asteroid belt lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in the Solar System. It is a group of asteroids.

THE PLANETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

MERCURY Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun in the Solar System. It’s very hot and it has a crater covered surface which looks similar to the Moon.

VENUS Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun. It is similar in size to Earth. It has active volcanoes.

EARTH Earth is the fifth largest planet in the Solar System and third from the Sun. It was formed around four and a half billion years ago and is the only place in the Universe where life is known to exist.

MARS Mars, or the 'Red Planet' as it is sometimes known, is the fourth planet from the Sun. It has a dusty, rocky surface and a thin atmosphere.

The ‘red spot’ it would be here JUPITER Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It has the famous ‘Red Spot’ and a large number of orbiting moons. The ‘red spot’ it would be here

SATURN Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system, the sixth planet from the Sun and has a system of rings.

URANUS Uranus is the third largest planet in the Solar System and seventh planet from the Sun. Uranus was the first planet discovered by telescope.

NEPTUNE Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and is nearly four times the size of Earth. It has strong winds and violent weather.

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