The Planets of the Solar System BY AMELIA CLASS 3

The Sun Nine planets go around the sun in what we call the solar system. The sun is one of millions of stars in the galaxy. We see it as a round red ball because it is nearer than any of the other stars. It is made up of a burning ball of gas. It is over millions of degrees in temperature.

Mercury Mercury is the nearest planet to the sun. It takes only 88 days to go around the sun. (earth takes 1 year) It can be seen without a telescope. You could not live here because there is no water.

Venus Venus is the brightest planet. It is the second closest planet to the Sun and the nearest planet to Earth. Venus also has mountains like we do. A year on Venus is only 262 days long.

Earth Earth is the only planet that has water on its surface. It takes 365 ¼ days to go around the sun. It is the only planet that has life on it (or is it??)

Mars Mars is known as the red planet because it is covered by rust like dust. It has many volcanoes, the biggest is called Olympus Mons and is the biggest in the solar system. It is very cold (-120 degrees in winter)

Jupiter Jupiter is the biggest planet and has it’s own moons. It is the stormiest planet in the solar system. It spins much faster than earth, taking under 10 hours to fully turn (earth takes 24 hours giving us day and night). It is made completely of gas.

Saturn Saturn is the most beautiful planet. It is the 6 th planet from the sun. It has at least18 moons. It is surrounded by rings. It is made of 2 gases, helium and hydrogen.

Uranus Uranus is 7 times bigger than the Earth. It takes 84 years to go around the sun. It was first seen in 1781 by William Herschel using a telescope from Earth.

Neptune Neptune cannot be seen without a large telescope. It is made out of gas and is the 3 rd largest planet. Neptune has 13 moons.

Pluto Pluto was not discovered until It takes 248 ½ years to go around the sun. There is still a lot that is not known about Pluto and in summer this year scientists got closer than ever before.

Our Solar System

I hope you enjoyed it Slide show by Amelia.