THE PLANETS

What is a planet? A planet is a celestial body that orbits

around the sun What does celestial mean?

Celestial simply means space What does orbit mean?

Orbit means to travel So what does that mean?

A planet is a large mass that is floating in space by gravity and moves in a circle around the sun

What are the planets?

There are eight planets in our Solar System: Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun (36 million miles from the sun)

Eighth largest planet There are craters on the surface of

Mercury Orbits around the sun in only 88 days Mercury rotates very slowly, one day

in Mercury is 58 Earth Days Has no moons

Venus

Second Planet from the sun (67,237,910 miles from the sun) Hottest and brightest of all planets

Sometimes call morning star Same size as earth Has craters and volcanoes on the surface Takes about 225 days to orbit around the

sun Spins backwards No moons or rings

Earth

Third planet from the Sun Fifth largest planet Takes about 365 days (1 year) to

orbit around the Sun The surface of Earth is 70% water

and plate tectonics Earth has one Moon (click her for

information about the Moon)

Mars

Fourth Planet from the Sun Called the Red Planet because of it’s red

color A day on Mars is a little over 24 hours

(only a little longer than a day on Earth) A year on Mars is 687 days (almost

double an Earth year) Mars has two moons Phobos and Diemos There are craters, volcanoes, and dust

storms on Mars

Jupiter

Fifth planet from the Sun Largest planet in the Solar System Takes 12 Earth years to orbit the Sun 483,780,000 miles from the Sun Jupiter has 60 Moons Jupiter has rings Jupiter is made up of mostly gas

unlike the other planets

Saturn Sixth Planet from the Sun Second largest planet 941,070,000 miles from the Sun Takes 29 Earth years to orbit the sun Has 31 moons Saturn has rings which are made up

of thousands of ice particles the size of a small car

Uranus Seventh planet from the sun Icy planet (blue in color) Faint rings Rotates on its side (one pole is facing

the Sun so seasons on Uranus last 20 years)

takes about 84 Earth years to orbit the Sun

Has 16 moons 178,486,000 miles from the Sun

Neptune Eighth planet in the solar system Blue in color with faint rings Made up of gas Has 13 moons Takes about 164 Earth years to orbit

the Sun 2,793,100,000 miles from the Sun The largest moon Triton orbits

backwards around Neptune

Time to take a Quiz!

Click on the answer that you think is correct.

Don’t worry if you get it wrong you can always try

again! Good Luck!

Which planet is fourth from the sun? 1. Jupiter 2. Venus 3. Mars 4. Earth

Which planet has 13 moons? 1. Neptune 2. Uranus 3. Jupiter 4. Earth

Which planet is closest to the sun? 1.Venus 2. Mars 3. Saturn 4. Mercury

Which planet takes 12 Earth Years to orbit the Sun? 1. Venus 2. Mercury 3. Jupiter 4. Mars

Which is the second largest Planet? 1. Venus 2. Saturn 3. Mars 4. Uranus

Which Planet rotates on its side? 1. Jupiter 2. Saturn 3. Uranus 4. Mercury

Which planet is the hottest of all Planets? 1. Mercury 2. Neptune 3. Uranus 4. Venus

Which planet is the largest planet in our Solar System? 1. Saturn 2. Earth 3. Neptune 4. Jupiter

Which planet is third from the sun? 1. Neptune 2. Earth 3. Uranus 4. Mars

This is the only object in Space Humans have visited 1. Mars 2. Earth’s Moon 3. Venus 4. Mercury

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