The Solar System (On the next page, click on a planet to learn about it, then click on the spaceship to go back to the Solar System)

Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun It takes Mercury 88 days to orbit the Sun Mercury’s temperature can get as high as 750 degrees Fahrenheit and as low as -328 degrees Fahrenheit. Diameter= 3100 miles Mercury has no moons There is no possibility of life on Mercury NASA’s latest mission to Mercury is called the Messenger and the spacecraft entered Mercury’s orbit in March 2011… and is currently sending back pictures of the planet.

Venus is the 2 nd planet from the Sun It is the brightest planet in the Solar System Venus orbits around the Sun in 262 days Venus is named after the Roman Goddess of love and beauty Diameter= 7520 miles Venus has no moons This planet can get as hot as 860 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes it the hottest planet in the Solar System The surface of Venus is covered by clouds of water vapor and sulfuric acid, which makes it impossible for there to be life on this planet

Earth is the 3 rd planet from the Sun It is the only planet that has an atmosphere containing 21% oxygen It is the only planet that has life Earth has 1 moon It takes Earth 365 days to orbit around the Sun, which is 1 year It is the only planet with liquid water on the surface Diameter= 7928 miles Earth orbits around the Sun on its axis, rotating right round in 24 hours, which is one day.

Nickname= The Red Planet Mars is the 4 th planet from the Sun Mars has seasons like earth Mars has 2 moons named Phobos and Deimos Diameter=4222 miles The temperature can get to -125 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter and to 23 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer A year on Mars is 1 year and 320 days Mars is covered by craters from asteroids and meteorites hitting the planet Mars has dust storms that can blanket almost the entire planet in just a few days

5 th planet from the Sun Named after the ancient Roman Sky-god, Jupiter, known to the Greeks as Zeus Diameter= 88,700 miles Gas giant  entirely composed of gas Jupiter has 64 moons It is the stormiest planet in the Solar System On August 5 th, 2011, NASA launched an unmanned spacecraft named Juno to Jupiter to try and learn more about the planet. It will take the spacecraft 5 years to get to Jupiter.

6 th planet from the Sun Saturn has rings surrounding it The rings all orbit Saturn at different speeds and have gaps between them 18 moons Largest planet in the Solar System Diameter= 75,098 miles It takes 29.5 years for this planet to make one orbit around the Sun The temperature on Saturn is too difficult for scientists to figure out, but at this planets highest point the temperature can get to -270 degrees Fahrenheit

7 th planet from the Sun Has 27 moons Gas giant  entirely composed of gas It takes this planet 84 years to complete an orbit around the Sun Diameter= 29, 297 miles This planet was discovered by William Hershel in 1781 Uranus orbits on its side which causes one side of the planet to be in total darkness for a quarter of its orbit

8 th planet from the Sun Neptune was named after the Roman God of the Sea Neptune is the 3 rd largest planet Diameter=30,250 miles Gas giant  entirely composed of gas It takes Neptune 165 years to orbit around the Sun Neptune has 13 moons The average temperature on Neptune is -328 degrees Fahrenheit

Images and Work Cited