By Emma Neary

The Solar System

Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

Order

The Solar System consists of the Sun and the planets that move around the Sun in oval paths called orbits. A planet is a vast ball of rock or gas that travels in a orbit around a star. There are other objects in our Solar System such as moons and asteroids.

What is the Solar System?

Earth and the other planets formed about 5 billion years ago. Our planet was born from dust and gases whirling in the orbit around the Sun as it was forming. In the intense heat, the dust and gases collided and hardened into a ball of rock. Even today, Earth is still hit by dust from space and the occasional large piece of rock.

When did the Earth Form?

The planets move around the sun because the sun is so big that its gravity is very powerful. Gravity is the force that pulls the planets towards the sun. It is strong enough to hold all the planets in the Solar System in their orbits, moving around the sun in the same direction.

Why do Planets Orbit the Sun?

Earth is 150 million kilometres away from the Sun. This means our planet is far enough away from the Sun for water to be liquid. If Earth were closer and, therefore, warmer, water would turn into gas, and if it were farther away, water would become ice. It is Earth’s distance from the Sun that makes it the only planet in the Solar System that is known to support life.

How Far are we from the Sun?

The Sun is so far away that if you tried to drive there, traveling at 100 kilometres an hour, it would take you 170 years to reach your destination!

The Sun is about five billion years old and it is more than one million kilometres wide. It is so big it can fit more than one million Earths inside it.

Some of the stars we can see in the night sky are so far away that the light coming from them has taken millions of years to reach earth.

Did You Know?

Consists : Be composed, made up, be formed etc.

Orbit : Course, path, circuit, track, trajectory, rotation, revolution, circle, cycle or round.

Collided : Crash, come into, collision, bang, slam, impact.

Gravity : Attraction, attracting force, downward force, pull, weight, heaviness.

Meanings of Words

Thank you for watching my slide show on the Solar System. I hope you all learnt something new.

Thank You