First published in 2008 by Orpheus Books Ltd.,6 Church Green, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX28 4AW, England

Copyright ©2008 Orpheus Books Ltd.

CCrreeaatteedd aanndd pprroodduucceedd bbyyRachel Coombs, Nicholas Harris, Sarah Hartley,

Elizabeth Havercroft and Erica Simms, Orpheus Books Ltd.

TTeexxtt Olivia Brookes

IIlllluussttrraatteedd bbyy Gary Hincks, Nicki Palin, Mark Stacey and Sebastian Quigley

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN XXXXXXXXXX

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Printed and bound in China

Contents4 5Introduction

5 Introduction

6 Solar System

8 Planets

10 Night sky12 About the night sky

14 The Earth

16 Landscapes

18 Mountains20 Rivers

22 Coast

24 Volcano

26 The seasons

28 Weather

IN THIS ENCYCLOPEDIA, you will find out about the stars andplanets—and especially the planet we live on: Earth. The different

landscapes around us are shaped by natural forces: for example, rain,snow, ice, wind, rivers and even erupting volcanoes.

There are lots ofthings to see in themain illustrationthat accompanieseach subject

Each subject ispresented withan introductorytext to explainwhat it is about.

Most (but not all) ofthe items picturedcan be foundsomewhere in themain illustration.

The text thataccompanies eachitem explains what it is and provides moreinformation about it.

If you look very carefully, you willfind a tiny comet in each of themain illustrations in this book.Turn to page 31 to find out wherethey are hidden.

6 7S O L A R S Y S T E MSolar System

THE SOLAR SYSTEMis made up of the Sun,

eight major planets. several dwarfplanets, moons, comets and countlesssmaller rocky objects. The planet we live on

is called Earth. Along with the other planets, itorbits (goes round) the Sun. The other

planets are called: Mercury, Venus,Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus andNeptune. Pluto is a much smallerworld. It is now described as a

dwarf planet.

9P L A N E T SPlanets8

MercuryMercury is the smallest planet in ourSolar System. It is also the closest tothe Sun. During the day, it is extremelyhot on Mercury. During the night,however, it is bitterly cold. OnMercury’s surface there are many deepcraters. These were probably made by

meteorites—boulders crashingdown from space. When ameteorite struck thesurface, rock and dustwas blasted out in alldirections.

EarthThe Earth is the onlyworld in the SolarSystem where thereare living things. Life ispossible because thereis liquid water on our

planet. The Sun gives usalso exactly the right

amount of warmth so that it is nottoo hot and not too cold. Earth is surroundedby a covering of gas called the atmosphere.This gives us air to breathe, and protects usfrom bombardment by meteorites.

VenusVenus is nearly the same

size as Earth. However, people could notlive there. It is extremely hot and the itsatmosphere is full of unbreathable carbondioxide. Venus is covered by clouds all yearround. These are made from droplets notof water but deadly sulphuric acid. Venusspins round, but in the opposite directionto the other planets. It spins very slowly.

Earth takes 24 hours,or one day, to spinround. AVenusian daylasts 243 Earthdays. That’slonger than itsyear, the time ittakes to orbit

the Sun.

MarsMars is known asthe Red Planetbecause of the reddust that covers itssurface. It is abouthalf the size of theEarth. Scientists havediscovered that waterprobably once flowed on Mars. Thereare dry river beds, deep ravines andancient seashores on the planet. If Marsonce had liquid water, it is possible lifecould have existed there in the past.Today, the only water on Mars is frozen at its north and south poles,or just beneath theground in other areas.

JupiterJupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. Itdoes not have a hard, rocky surface like the Earth.The colourful bands of red, white, brown andyellow are thick clouds. These swirl around inJupiter’s stormy atmosphere. The Great Red Spoton Jupiter’s surface is three times the size ofEarth. The Spot is actually a giant storm that hasbeen raging for 300 years.

UranusUranus is thethrid largestplanet. It isalso mademostly of gas.Uranus isunusualbecause it spinsround on its side. Ittakes 84 Earth years toorbit the Sun. LikeSaturn, it is

surrounded byrings, but they are very faintand narrow.

NeptuneNeptune is the fourthlargest gas giant. Italso has some veryfaint, dark rings.

Because it is so far fromthe Sun it is bitterly cold. One

of its moons, Triton, is the coldest worldin the Solar System.

PlutoPluto is a dwarf planet. It is even smallerthan our Moon. Seen from Pluto,the Sun would look like nomore than a bright,distant star. Pluto’ssurface is made of gasesthat have frozen hard.

SaturnSecond only in size to Jupiter, Saturn isa huge planet. It is surrounded by vastrings made of lumps of rock and ice.

Saturn isalso a “gas

giant”. Its thickatmosphere is made

mostly of hydrogen.Saturn takes over 29Earth years to complete an

orbit of the Sun. But a day onSaturn is much shorter than on

Earth as it spins much faster.

Night sky

ON A CLEAR NIGHT, the sky is full of stars. The largest andbrightest thing is the Moon. It is much, much smaller than any

star, but it looks bigger because it is so close. The nearest star(apart from the Sun) is so far away, the light from it takes severalyears to reach us—and light travels at 300,000 kilometres a second!

1110 N I G H T S K Y

12 13A B O U T T H E N I G H T S K YAbout the night sky

StarsStars are giant balls of gas. They give offhuge amounts of light and heat. Stars looklike tiny dots of light in the sky because theyare so far away. The Sun is a star. It looksbigger than the others because it is muchnearer. It provides us with light and warmth. Milky Way

The Milky Way is a misty band that stretchesacross the sky on a clear night. It is made upof millions of stars. The Milky Way is ourview of the galaxy to which we belong. Ourgalaxy is a massive spiral of 200 billion stars.

TelescopeA telescope makes things that are far awayappear much closer. Inside is a series ofdish-shaped mirrors. They reflect light on toan eyepiece. You look through this to see thestars and planets in more detail.

Shooting starsThe Solar System is full of countless pieces ofrock, most no bigger than grains of sand.They hurtle through space. When they comeclose to Earth, these fragments, calledmeteors, burn up. The split-second streaks oflight that result are called “shooting stars”.Sometimes, you can see a large number ofshooting stars. This is called a meteor shower. The meteors may flake off comets.

The MoonThe Moon is our nearest neighbour in space.A large ball of rock, it travels around Earth inabout 27 days. The light it “shines” is reflectedfrom the Sun. The Moon’s shape changesfrom a thin crescent to a full disc and backagain as it goes round the Earth.

CometA comet is a large lump of rock fragmentsand ice. Comets travel around the Sun. Asthey near the Sun, the ice melts and longtails of gas and dust sweep out behind them.

ConstellationA constellation is a pattern of stars. Peopleonce imagined that these patterns looked likethe shapes of gods, heroes or animals fromancient legends. This is the constellation ofOrion the Hunter. Three bright stars in a rowmake the shape of his belt.

14 15T H E E A R T HThe Earth

THE EARTH, the planet where welive, is a sphere. But it is not

perfectly round. It is fatter round itsmiddle, the Equator, than at the Poles.

The Earth takes 24 hours to spinround once. It takes about 365 days totravel around the Sun. It is notperfectly upright, but is slightly tilted.

ContinentContinents arethe landmasses of theEarth. Theyare separatedfrom each other byoceans and seas. Thecontinents are: Asia(the largest), Europe,North and SouthAmerica, Africa (pictured here), Australasiaand Antarctica. The continents make up lessthan one third of the Earth’s surface. The restis ocean. (See the map on pages 16-17.)

The PolesThe top and the bottom of the Earth areknown as the Poles. The Sun is lower in thesky at the Poles, so it is very cold throughoutthe year. In winter, it is dark all the time. TheNorth Pole lies in the icy Arctic Ocean. TheSouth Pole is on the continent of Antarctica.

IslandAn island is an area ofland that is surroundedby water, in the sea orin a lake. Someislands are actuallythe upper part of amountain thatrises from theocean bed abovethe water’ssurface.

OceanAn ocean is a vast expanse of salt water.Earth has five oceans: Pacific Ocean (thelargest), Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean,Arctic Ocean and Southern Ocean. Someareas of ocean close to land are called seas.

L A N D S C A P E SLandscapes16

N O R T H

A M E R I C A

S O U T H

A M E R I C A

A F R I C A

E U R O P E

A S I A

A U S T R A L A S I A

P a c i f i c

O c e a n

A t l a n t i c

O c e a n

I n d i a n

O c e a n

S o u t h e r n O c e a n

A r c t i c O c e a n

Polar regionsAt the Poles, the oceans arecovered by floating ice, includingicebergs (ice “mountains”).Tinyplants, called plankton, live in thewater. They are eaten by tinyanimals, who are in turn eaten byfish, seals, biirds and whales.

WoodlandsWoodlands have many treesgrowing close together. Theyareoften made up of different kindsof tree. They are found in parts ofthe world that have a temperateclimate: the summers are warm,but winters are cool.

African grasslandsThe African grasslands are also called thesavannah. The grassy landscape is dottedwith bushes and trees. The climate is hot,with a dry season followed by a wet season.

DesertA desert is very hot and dry all year round.There is almost no water or plants. Theground is just bare rock or sand. Winds maycause the sand to pile up in dunes.

Tropical rainforestRainforests grow near the Equator. The largestrainforest is in the basin of the River Amazonin South America. It is always very hot and wet.Many animals and plants live in rainforests.

Mountain rangeA mountain range is an area of mountainsand deep valleys. The highest mountaintopsare covered with snow all year round, even intropical regions.

17

MOUNTAINS are good places togo if you enjoy walking, caving,

climbing, or even paragliding. Inwinter, people go skiing on thesnowy mountain slopes.

MountainA mountain is larger,steeper and higher than ahill. The top is called thesummit. It may be a sharp

peak. As you climb higher up a mountain, it gets colder.There are fewer and fewer trees. Near the summit, theremay be bare rock. Often there is ice and snow.

RocksThe Earth is mademostly of rock. If youlook down a deep holein your garden or in thestreet, you might see rock. If you go to the mountains you can find rocks on theground. Stones and pebbles are small pieces of rock.

GlacierA glacier is a mass of ice that flows slowly down highmountain valleys. It is like a river made completely of ice.At the end of the glacier, its “snout”, the ice melts.

CaveUnderground streams may formcaves. Bit by bit, the water nibblesaway at the rocks until largehollows open up. Sometimes thewater dissolves the rock. When itdrips from the cave ceiling itmakes stone “icicles” calledstalactites. Stalagmites are formedwhere the drips fall on the ground.

ValleyA valley is a long basin. As theyflow down mountain slopes, riversand glaciers carve channels in therocks. Over a very, very long timethese channels widen into deepvalleys. Valleys in highland areasusually have steep sides. In lowlands, valleys are wide withgentle slopes and flat bottoms.

FossilA fossil is the remains of a living thingturned to stone. The plant or animallived many millions of years ago.When it died, its soft parts rottedaway. The hard parts—bones, teethor shell—became part of the rock asit formed around them.

M O U N T A I N SMountains 1918

ARIVER is a natural channelof water. It carries rain or

melted snow downhill fromuplands to lowlands, eventuallyreaching a lake or sea.

Rivers20

SpringWhen it rains, the waterseeps into the soil. Somewater may find its way intothe rocks underneath. Aspring is the place where water

that has collected undergroundflows out on to the surface. A spring may bethe source of a river.

StreamA stream is a small, fast-flowing river.

Streams flow down steep slopes often in aseries of small waterfalls called rapids. Thechannel is dotted with boulders and stones.

LakeA lake is where water has collected in a largehollow or basin. In mountainous areas, lakesmay be found in valleys where glaciers onceflowed. Rivers often flow into and out oflakes. Some lakes are man-made. A dam isbuilt across a river. Water builds up behindthe dam to form the lake.

WaterfallA waterfall forms wherea river or stream flowsover a cliff or down avery steep slope. Insome waterfalls, thewater plunges over a“lip” of hard rock. TheAngel Falls in SouthAmerica are the highestin the world. They arenearly a kilometre high.

21R I V E R S

GorgeA gorge is a narrow rivervalley with steep cliffs assides. A gorge formswhen the rivers flowsswiftly and powerfully.Over many years, theforce of the river wearsaway the rocks and cutsdeep into the ground.

MouthThe mouth is the opening at the end of ariver where it flows out into a lake or sea.Sometimes the river divides into manynarrower channels. This is called a delta.

22 23C O A S T

THE COAST is where the sea meets theland. Some coasts are flat and marshy.

Others have high, rocky cliffs. In many placesthere are beaches or areas of bare rock where

waves crash ashore.

Coast

WaveWaves are caused bywinds out to sea. Thewater turns over andover in circles. As wavesapproach the shallower waters of the coast, the upper partof the wave topples over, or “breaks”, on the seashore.

Sand dunesSand dunes are hills ofsand. Over many years,the wind may pile upsand on the beach,producing dunes. Grasses may later grow and fix thedunes in place. You also find sand dunes in the desertwhere strong winds blow in the same direction.Tides

Every day the sea comes up theshore and goes out again. Thisis because the sea level is alwaysrising and falling. The tides, asthey are called, are caused by theMoon. It has a pulling force(gravity) which makes the oceanwaters rise as it orbits the Earth.

CliffA cliff is a steep drop from the landto the beach or the sea. During astorm, waves may batter a cliffand loosen the rocks. It canbe dangerous to walk undercliffs because of this.

BeachBeaches are stretches ofsand, shingle or pebbles onthe seashore. Sand is madeup of tiny fragments of rock.Over many years, the waveswear away the cliffs and breakdown the rocks into sand.

SeashellsShellfish have to be able to copewith being submerged in saltwater when the tide is high—thenleft to dry out in the sun at lowtide. Some have soft bodies, sothey have an outer shell to protectthemselves. Many shellfish clingon to rocks.

AVOLCANO is anopening in the surface

of the Earth through whichhot, liquid rock erupts.Usually a volcano is acone-shaped mountain.During an eruption, thevolcano blasts out lavaand ash. Some volcanoesare extinct and will nevererupt again.

Volcano24

CraterWhen a volcano erupts, the top of themountain is often destroyed in the force ofthe explosion. The wide hole that is left atthe summit is called the crater.

LavaDeep inside the Earth, thetemperature is so high thateven rock melts. Lava is whatthis liquid, or molten, rock iscalled when it reaches the

surface. In a volcanic eruption, lava is forcedout through the volcano and flows down itsslopes. When lava cools, it turns into a hard,black rock.

GeyserA geyser is a fountain ofhot water or steam thatblasts out of the ground.A geyser erupts whenwater that has collectedunder ground is heatedby hot, volcanic rocks.

AshAs well as lava, a volcano blastsout huge clouds ofash and dust highinto the air. Volcanic ashis lava that has been turnedto a fine powder by the force of theexplosion. When it falls back down to earth,ash may blanket everything in a layer severalmetres thick. Ash is very good for the soil. Itmakes it fertile.

EarthquakeAn earthquake iswhen the Earthtrembles. Oftenthe vibration onlylasts a few

seconds. Most earthquakes are so weak thatwe do not notice them. But sometimes theEarth shakes so violently that the surface ofthe ground cracks, and houses and bridgescollapse. An earthquakes is most oftencaused by a sudden jolt in the rocks underthe surface. Juddering shock waves are sentout in all directions. They can also causemassive ocean waves called tsunamis.

25V O L C A N O

Hot springHot water springsare often foundnear volcanoes.

The water gushes from under the ground,where it has been heated by volcanic rocks.Sometimes the water is mixed with mud andclay. This is known as a mud pot. The mudoften smells of rotten eggs!

THE SUMMER is the warmest time of year. Thedays are long and you can play outside until

late. Sometimes there are sudden thunderstorms.

AUTUMN comes after summer is over. Days areshorter and colder, and the leaves begin to fall

from the trees. Sometimes it can be frosty or foggy.

IN WINTER it is very cold and the days are short.There are no leaves on the trees. Sometimes it snows,and the water in ponds may turn to ice.

IN SPRING plants and trees begin to flower. It ismating season for many animals. The weather isvery changeable, with sunshine, wind and showers.

The Seasons 2726 T H E S E A S O N S

28 29W E A T H E R

WindWind is moving air.On a warm day,winds can becooling, but on acold day, a strongwind can make itfeel much worse!Some regions are

warmer than others. Warm air rises, so coolerair flows in to replace it. This produces winds.

FogFog is really a cloudthat hugs the ground.Mist is a thin fog. It isoften becomes foggywhen air cools atnight, causing waterdroplets to form in theair. The fog disappearswhen the sun warmsup the air.

IceWhen it is cold, water freezes to ice. It becomessolid. The surface of a pond may freeze over. If it isvery thick it may be strong enough to skate on.Icicles, frozen drips of water, can form on buildings.

FrostOn some cold morningsthere may be frost, a thinlayer of sparkling icecrystals over the grassand leaves. At night, the airnear the ground cools quicklyand water vapour condenses.Everything, including spiders’ webs,is soaked. This is called dew. If the temperature fallsbelow freezing, the condensed vapour turns to frost.

CloudsWhen it is warm, water evaporates (becomesan invisible gas) and rises. Higher up, the aircools and the water vapour condenses (turnsback to liquid) around dust particles. Millionsof water droplets mass together to form clouds.

Weather

SunWhen the sunshines, it becomesbright and warm.In the summer thesun is higher inthe sky and it canbe very hot. Thesun shines all day, but sometimes we do notsee it as clouds are in the sky covering it. Itrises in the morning and sets at night.

SnowIn the winter water droplets in theclouds freeze and snow falls. If youlook at snowflakes close up, you willsee that they all have six sides orpoints, but no two flakes are exactlyalike. If it is cold enough, the snowstays on the ground and you can buildsnowmen and have a snowball fight!

RainClouds in the sky aremade up of millionsof water droplets andice crystals. As theyincrease in numberand grow heavier thecloud cannot holdthe droplets anymore. They then fallto earth as rain.

RainbowIf it is raining and sunny at the sametime, you may see a rainbow. Arainbow forms when the light from thesun shines through raindrops. Eachtiny raindrop splits the light into sevencolours: red, orange, yellow, green,blue, indigo and violet.

ThunderstormWhen dark clouds build up in the sky, especiallyon a hot day, a thunderstorm might be on theway. It starts to rain heavily. There is lightning—sudden, jagged streaks of light in the sky.These are flashes of electricity, caused by waterdroplets and ice crystals bumping together. Theheat of the flash causes the air to expand veryquickly. This produces a loud boom known asthunder. You hear this a few seconds later.

Index30 31Did you find them?

The red circlesshow exactlywhere the cometcan be found oneach of the main

illustrations in this book.pages 6-7

pages 14-15

pages 18-19

pages 22-23

pages 26-27

pages 10-11

pages 16-17

pages 20-21

pages 24-25

AAfrica 15, 17air 8, 28, 29Amazon, River 17Angel Falls 21animals 16, 17, 19Antarctica 15Arctic Ocean 15, 17ash 24, 25Asia 15, 17Atlantic Ocean 15, 16atmosphere 8, 9Australasia 15, 17autumn 27

BCbeach 22, 23cave 19channel 18, 20, 21cliff 21, 22, 23cloud 8, 28, 29coast 22-23comet 6, 13condensation 28, 29constellation 12continent 15crater 8, 25crystals 28, 29

DEdelta 21desert 16, 23dew 29Earth 5, 6, 8, 9, 14-15, 18, 24, 25

earthquake 25electricity 28Equator 14eruption 5, 24, 25Europe 15, 17evaporation 28

Ffog 27, 29fossil 19frost 27, 29

Ggalaxy 12gas 8, 9, 12, 13, 28gas giants 9geyser 25glacier 18, 19, 21gorge 21grasslands, African 16gravity 22Great Red Spot 9

HIJhot spring 25hydrogen 9ice 5, 9, 13, 16, 18, 19, 27, 28, 29

icebergs 16icicles 29Indian Ocean 15, 17island 15Jupiter 9

Llake 15, 20, 21landscapes 5, 16-17lava 24, 25leaves 27, 29life 8light 10, 12, 13, 29lightning 28

MMars 8marsh 23Mercury 8meteorites 8meteors 13Milky Way 12Moon 9, 10, 13, 22moons 6, 9mountain 15, 17, 18-19, 24, 25

mountain range 17mouth (of a river) 21mud pot 25

NNeptune 9night sky 10-13North America 15, 16

Oocean 15, 22, 25orbit 6, 8, 9, 22Orion 12

PPacific Ocean 15, 16pebbles 18, 22planets 6, 8-9, 14planets, dwarf 6, 9plankton 16plants 16-17, 19, 26Pluto 9polar regions 16Poles 14, 15, 16

Rrain 5, 20, 21, 28, 29rainbow 29rainforests 17rapids 21rings (of planets) 9river 5, 18, 19, 20-21rock 6, 8, 9, 13, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

Ssalt water 15, 23sand 16, 22, 23sand dunes 16, 23Saturn 9savannah 16sea 15, 20, 21, 22, 23seashore 22, 23seasons 16, 26-27shell 19, 23shellfish 23shingle 22shock waves 25shooting stars 13sky 10-13, 28

snow 5, 17, 18, 20, 27, 29snowflakes 29soil 21, 25Solar System 6-9South America 15, 16Southern Ocean 15, 17space 6-13spring 21, 26stalactites 19stalagmites 19stars 9, 10, 12stone 18, 19, 21storm 9, 28stream 21summer 26, 28summit 18, 25Sun 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 28

Ttelescope 12temperate climate 16thunder 28thunderstorm 26, 28tides 22, 23trees 16, 26, 27Triton 9tropical rainforest 17tropical regions 17tsunamis 25

UVWUranus 9valley 17, 18, 21Venus 8volcano 5, 24-25water 8, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25,

27, 28, 29water vapour 28, 29waterfall 21wave 22, 23weather 26-29wind 5, 22, 23, 26, 28winter 27woodlands 16