Mrs. Tweedie May 2006 Mrs. Tweedie May 2006 Earth and Its Place In the Solar System Earth and Its Place In the Solar System

The solar system is the sun and the objects that orbit around it.

An orbit is the path an object takes as it moves around another object in space.

A planet is a large body of rock or gas that orbits the sun.

Moons are large, rocky objects that orbit planets.

The sun is the center of the solar system. It is a star.

A star is a hot ball of glowing gases.

Gravity is the force of one object’s pull on another.

The inner planets are the four planets closest to the sun.

Mercury is the planet closest to the sun. In the daytime Mercury’s surface is hot enough to melt lead.

Venus rotates backward compared with most of the other planets.

Earth is the only planet known to support life.

Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system.

The outer planets are the five planets farthest from the sun. They are made mostly of frozen gases and are much colder than the inner planets.

Jupiter is the solar system’s largest planet. Two Earth-sized circles could fit inside Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.

Saturn has a large system of rings that reach 260,000 miles from its surface.

Uranus rolls on its side as it orbits the sun.

Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun for a 20-year period when Pluto crosses its orbit.

Pluto is made of ice. It has a moon almost as large as it is.

An asteroid is a chunk of rock or metal that orbits the sun. There are thousands of asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

A comet is a large ball of ice and dust that orbits the sun. A comet is shaped like a large, flat oval.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto My very enormous mother just scoffed up nine pizzas.