GET TO KNOW THE PLANETS!! By: Mr. DeVries

Did You Know? Our Solar System consists of all the planets that orbit our Sun. Our Solar System also has many moons, comets, asteroids, and dwarf planets(like Pluto). Scientists do not know how many Solar Systems there are in the universe. There could be billions! To learn more about our Solar System click here.

Get to Know the Planets The planets are divided into two groups called the Inner Planets and the Outer Planets. The Inner planets are rocky planets and are inside an asteroid belt. The Outer Planets are gas planets and are also known as The Giant Planets. Click here to find the Inner Planets. Click here to find the Outer Planets. Pluto is no longer a planet remember!

Mercury Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. It takes Mercury 88 days to orbit the Sun so one year in Mercury is 88 days! Mercury has no moons. To find out how long it takes Mercury to rotate click here. To look at a real picture of Mercury click here.

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Venus is the brightest planet and about the same size as Earth. Venus orbits the Sun in 225 days. Venus can have a temperature of 396 degrees because of its heavy layer of clouds! Venus has no moons. Click here to find out if Venus has any rings. Venus has an atmosphere that could crush a submarine! Click here to look at a real picture of Venus.

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the only planet in the Solar System that holds life. 70% of Earth is covered up with water. Earth orbits the sun in 365 days. It takes Earth 24 hours to rotate. Earth has one moon. Earth is a beautiful planet that has diverse life that calls it home. It is up to every human to take care of the planet to keep it beautiful and allow life to live on it for many years.

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the closest to Earth. Mars rotates ever 24 ½ hours. Mars orbits the sun every 687 days. Mars has two moons. Click here to find their names. Mars is really cold and can reach -200 degrees Fahrenheit! Click here to find out how much you would weigh on Mars. Click here to see a real picture of Mars.

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. Jupiter is a gas planet. Jupiter is the biggest planet in our Solar System. Jupiter has 63 known moons! It takes Jupiter 12 Earth years to orbit the Sun! Jupiter rotates nearly every 10 hours. Click here to find Jupiter’s temperature. Click here to find a real picture of Jupiter.

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. Saturn is known for having rings. Click here to find out how many rings it has. Saturn has 31 known moons! Saturn’s largest moon is named Titan and is bigger than Mercury. Saturn orbits the sun every 29.5 Earth years. Saturn rotates every 10 and a half hours. Saturn is also very cold and can be -288 degrees Fahrenheit! Click here to look at a real picture of Saturn.

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Uranus is a gas planet and has rings and appears to blue-green in color due to its gasses. It takes Uranus 84 Earth years to orbit the Sun. It takes Uranus 17 hours to rotate. Uranus has at least 15 moons and probably more! Click here to find more information about Uranus. Click here to look at a real picture of Uranus.

Neptune Neptune is now the farthest planet from the Sun since Pluto is no longer a planet. Since Neptune is so far from the sun it takes 165 Earth years to orbit the Sun! If humans lived on Neptune no person would ever live to be one years old! Neptune rotates every 16 hours. Do you think Neptune would be cold? Click here to find out Neptune’s temperature. Neptune has 4 rings and at least 8 moons. Click here to find a real picture of Neptune.

Pluto Until recently Pluto was considered the ninth planet. It is now a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet is something that does not clear other things out of its orbit. There are three known dwarf planets in our solar system. They are Pluto, Ceres, and Eris. Ceres is in the asteroid belt while Eris was found beyond Pluto. Click here to find out if Pluto has a moon.

Congratulations!! You have finished this project. Remember if you want to learn more about space or our planets check out some wonderful books from the library!