Solar system catalog Planets, Moons, and More!

STARS

The Sun Is a star Center of our solar system Largest object in the solar system 1,392,684 km in diameter 330,000 times as massive as Earth Approximately 4.6 billion years old The Sun

PLANETS is in orbit around the Sun. has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape). has "cleared the neighborhood" around its orbit.

Mercury Closest planet to the Sun: 35.98 million miles away! No moons Visible from Earth: best seen at twilight 4,879 km in diameter One year on Mercury is equal to about 88 days on Earth

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun Second brightest object in the night sky after the Moon Diameter: 12,104 km One year on Venus is about 225 days on Earth No moons

Earth And the Moon Earth is the third planet from the sun Has one moon: simply named “Moon” The moon is the brightest object in the night sky One year on Earth is 365.25 days 12,756 km in diameter Only planet in the solar system that is not named after a Roman god

Mars Fourth planet from the sun 6,792 km in diameter Has 2 moons: Phobos and Deimos One year on Mars is about 687 days (1.9 years) on Earth Can be seen at night from Earth

Jupiter 142,984 km in diameter Fifth planet from the sun One year is approximately 4,333 days (11.9 years) on Earth Made of gasses 67 moons

Saturn Sixth Planet from the Sun Can be seen from Earth at night Composed of gasses One year is about 10,756 days (29.5 years) on Earth Diameter: 120,536 km 62 moons Over 30 rings

Uranus 27 moons 51,118 km in diameter Has 13 rings About 30,687 Earth days (84.0 years) in one year Seventh planet from the sun Cannot be seen from Earth without a telescope

Neptune Made of gas Eighth planet from the sun 49,528 km in diameter One year is 60,190 days (164.8 years) Earth days 14 moons

DWARF PLANETS is in orbit around the Sun has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and is not a satellite.

Previously considered a planet, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 2,372 km in diameter One year on Pluto is approximately 246 years on Earth Has 5 moons – Charon, Hydra, Nix, Kerberos, and Styx Pluto

Asteroids and comets A comet is icy and releases a trail of gas or dust. Comets are made of dust, ice, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, etc. Asteroids are small rocks orbiting the sun – though some can get quite large. They are not spherical in shape

Comet Halley Named after British Astronomer When this comet's orbit approaches the Sun, its 15-km (9-mile) nucleus sheds about 6 m (7 yards) of ice and rock into space, Comet Halley will return to the inner Solar System in the year 2061.

THE ASTEROID BELT Located between Mars and Jupiter Majority of asteroids in our solar system are found here – contains billions of asteroids Some are very large, some are size of pebbles One asteroid – Ceres –is considered a dwarf planet. It is the closest dwarf planet to the sun. THE ASTEROID BELT