1. Mercury Closest to the sun Small – about the size of Earth’s moon
Covered with craters (meteorite crashes)
Almost no atmosphere
Scorching hot in the day – freezing at night
I day = 59 days
1 year = 88 days
No moons
Morning or Evening
Star.

2. Venus 2nd planet from the sun About the same size as Earth
Rotates in the opposite direction
Hot and dry
Atmosphere of thick, poisonous, swirling clouds
Day = 243 days
Year = 225 days
No moons
Our “evil” twin

3. Earth Third planet from the sun Largest rocky/inner planet
Only planet with liquid water on its surface
Atmosphere filters out some of the sun’s rays
Only planet in the solar system known to support life
Has one moon with almost no atmosphere and many craters
1 day = _______ hours
1 year = ________ days

4. Mars Fourth planet from the sun
The “Red Planet” due to iron oxide soil
Dust storms and strong winds
Polar ice caps
Volcanoes and large canyon (10 times bigger than Grand Canyon)
Has two moons
Day = 25 hours
Year = 686 days

5. Asteroids
Asteroids are rocky objects up to several hundred kilometers that orbit the sun.
Some asteroids are as small as pebbles and others are so big they are called minor planets or dwarf planets.
Asteroids have uneven shapes and sometimes have smaller asteroids which orbit them.
Sometimes Asteroids get bounced towards Earth.
Most asteroids are between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt.

6. Meteoroids, Meteors, and Meteorites
Meteoroid- A space rock that’s bigger than a dust grain but smaller than and asteroid. If it strikes the Earth it is then a meteorite.
Meteor- The streak of light seen when a space rock enters the atmosphere and starts burning up. A.K.A “falling Star.”
Meteorite- If a meteor doesn’t entirely burn up, a piece of space rock that lands on Earth is called a meteorite.

7. Comets A comet is a frozen chunk of ice and dust that orbits the sun.
Comets are small compared to planets.
Comets have three parts (a coma and a tail only when near the sun)
Nucleus (dirty snowball)
Coma (giant cloud of dust and gases)
Two Tails (goes away from the sun)