All About The Solar System

By Chelsea Mederes3rd Grade

Havard Elementary Science

How far are the planets from the sun?

• Mercury (58 million km)• Venus (108 million km)• Earth (150 million km)• Mars (228 million km)• Jupiter (778 million km)• Saturn (1,427 million km)• Uranus (2,869 million km)• Neptune (4,505 million km)• Pluto (5,890 million km)

How many moons does each planets have?

• Mercury has no moons.• Venus has no moons.• Earth has one moon.• Mars has two moons.• Jupiter has sixteen moons.• Saturn has eighteen moons.• Uranus has fifteen moons.• Neptune has eight moons.• Pluto has one moon.

Learn something new today.

• Only the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were known to the ancients. Pluto was recognized as a true planet for 76 years. But in August 2006 The Astronomical Union changed Pluto’s status to a dwarf planet.

Fun facts about planets?

• When people looked at the night sky in ancient times, they noticed that the other planets known at that time: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and the Earth’s moon as well moved through an area like a narrow band that went all the way around the sky.

The Sun

• The Sun is the only star whose surface can be studied in detail from the Earth? The Sun is the biggest star in the whole Solar System. Yes, it’s a star. When you look up in the night sky you will see little bright stars; they are so tiny, but when you see the stars close up they are so big. But none are as big as the Sun.

The Members of the Solar System

• The planets can be seen as small disks through telescopes. Jupiter , Saturn , Uranus, and Neptune are large, cool planets that have retained their gases, and the dwarf planet Pluto’s so cold that’s gases may lie frozen on it’s surface.

Resources

• Go-passport. Grolier. com/splash

• HARCOURT Science Book

Copyright year 2000, page numbers D54-D95, Authors: Marjorie Slavick Frank, Robert M. Jones, et al.