1. …and other cool space stuff!

2. The OUTER PLANETS Mercury Venus Earth Mars The Inner Planets The Outer Planets Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Asteroid Belt ~ These 4 planets are the FURTHEST from the Sun. ~ Outer Planets are called the “GAS GIANTS”. ~ very LARGE with very DENSE atmospheres ~ made almost entirely of GAS - mostly hydrogen (H) & helium (He) - like the Sun ~ strong GRAVITATIONAL force keeps gases from escaping ~ have RINGS

3. “Just” JUPITER “Just” LARGEST  LARGEST planet  Greatest mass  Many storms “Great Red Spot”  “Great Red Spot” - like a hurricane & much larger than Earth!  AT least 52 moons!  Explored by unmanned space probes: ~Voyager I & II and Galileo

4.  Second largest planet  HUNDREDS OF RINGS- ~ made of ice & rock  Explored by Voyager I & II  Less dense than water! (This planet would float in water!)  AT least 30 moons! “Served” SATURN~“Served”

5. “Us” URANUS ~“Us”  Rotates on its side!  Blue - due to traces of methane gas in atmosphere  At least 21 moons!  Explored by Voyager II

6. Nachos” NEPTUNE ~ “Nachos”  Visible clouds & storms  Photographed by Voyager II & Hubble Space Telescope  At least 11 moons

7.  PAST Neptune …so VERY FAR from our sun! VERY FAR from our sun!  Smaller than Earth ’ s moon  Solid surface (NOT gassy!)  Photographed by Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Space Telescope  NOT a planet – NOW called a “DWARF PLANET” “DWARF PLANET”  One moon? Or double planet?

8. MVEMJSUN My Very Eager Martian Just Served Us Nachos *Use this acronym to help you remember the ORDER of the planets!

9. Comets, Asteroids, & Meteors COMETSDirty snowballs COMETS - “Dirty snowballs” ~ chunks of ice & dust ~ travel in elliptical orbits around the sun! ASTEROIDS ASTEROIDS - objects in orbit around the sun that are too small to be called planets MOST ~ MOST are in the “ASTEROID BELT” between Mars & Jupiter (separates the Inner and Outer planets) METEORS shooting stars METEORS - chunks of rock & dust that enter Earth’s atmosphere (“shooting stars”) ~ usually burn up meteorites ~ ones that fall to earth are called “meteorites” ~ Some meteors come from random bits of dust that orbit the sun. ~ Meteor “showers” come from dust released by comets as they travel through our solar system and Earth travels through the bits and pieces left behind.

10. THE END