The PlanetsThe Planets

An overview of theAn overview of the

Solar SystemSolar System

The SunThe Sun

• The sun is the biggest, brightest, and hottest object in the solar system.

• The sun is an ordinary star.

• The sun is made of about 70% hydrogen and 28% helium.

MercuryMercury

• Mercury is solid and is covered with craters.

• Mercury has almost no atmosphere.

• Mercury is the eighth largest planet.

VenusVenus

• Venus is the sixth largest planet. It’s about three-fourths the size of earth.

• The surface is rocky and very hot. The atmosphere completely hides the surface and traps the heat.

EarthEarth

• Earth is the fifth largest planet and the third from the sun.

• Liquid covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface.• The Earth has one moon.

MarsMars

• Mars is the fourth planet from the sun.

• Mars has a thin atmosphere that contains mostly carbon dioxide.

• Mars has two small moons.

Jupiter’s Red SpotJupiter’s Red Spot

• The Great Red Spot, a huge storm of swirling gas that has lasted for hundreds of years.

• Jupiter does not have a solid surface. The planet is a ball of liquid surrounded by gas.

Moons of JupiterMoons of Jupiter

Jupiter has four large Galilean moons, twelve smaller named moons and twenty-three more recently discovered but not named moons.

SaturnSaturn

• Saturn is the second largest planet and the sixth from the sun.

• Saturn is made of materials that are lighter than water. If you could fit Saturn in a lake, it would float!

Rings of SaturnRings of Saturn

• Saturn’s rings are not solid; they are composed of small countless particles.

• The rings are very thin. Though they’re 250,000km or more in diameter, they’re less than one kilometer thick.

UranusUranus

• Uranus is the third largest planet and the seventh from the sun.

• Uranus is one of the giant gas planets.

• Uranus is blue-green because of the methane in its atmosphere.

NeptuneNeptune

• Neptune is the fourth largest planet and the eight from the sun.

• Because of the orbits, from 1979 to 1999, Neptune was the ninth planet.

• Like Uranus, the methane gives Neptune its color.

PlutoPluto

• Pluto is the smallest planet and usually the farthest from the sun.

• Pluto is the only planet that has not been visited by a spacecraft.

Asteroid BeltAsteroid Belt

• Between Mars and Jupiter

• Between 700,000 and 1.7 million asteroids

Kuiper BeltKuiper Belt

• Outside Neptune

• At least 70,000 objects

• Short-period comets– Less than 200 year orbit

Oort CloudOort Cloud

• Far beyond the orbit of Pluto

• Long-period comets– More than 200 year orbit