Our Solar System

Our solar system has 8 planets and 1 dwarf planet.

Our sun is in the middle of the solar system.

Our Sun

The sun is made up of hydrogen and helium.

The sun is the biggest star in the solar system.

Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun.

1 year in Mercury is 88 days.

Venus

Venus rotates is counter clockwise. The Russians first mission was to

Venus.

Earth

Earth is the planet we live on. Earth is the only planet with life on it.

Mars

Mars is named after the Roman god of war and also known as the “Red Planet”.Olympus Mons a shield volcano could still be active today.

THE ASTEROID BELT

The Asteroid Belt has lots of rocks covered in dust.

The Asteroid Belt sets in between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Jupiter

The ancient Babylonians were the first to record the sights of Jupiter.

Jupiter was named after the king of Roman gods.

Saturn

Saturn has rings that are made up of ice and dust

Saturn is the flattest planet and it turns on its axis every ten hours and 34 minutes.

Uranus

Uranus is the coldest planet and referred as the Ice Giant.

The voyager 2 spacecraft was the only spacecraft the flew by Uranus.

Neptune

One storm in Neptune lasted for 5 years and it was called the Great Dark Spot.

Neptune is named after the Roman God of Sea.

The Dwarf planet Pluto

Pluto was named after the Greek God of the Underworld.

No spacecraft has visited Pluto yet.

Galaxy

There is probably more than 170 billion galaxies in the universe.

A galaxy has gas and dust in it.

Comets

Comets usually come from two areas the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt.

Comets are ice, dust, and rocks.

Universe

Our universe has an unimaginable expanse of dust, gas, stars, clouds, galaxies, and life.

The universe began in a Big Bang.

Dwarf Planets

There are 5 recognized dwarf planets in our solar system Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, Eris.

The largest dwarf planet is Eris.

Constellation

A constellation is a group of stars the form a pattern in the night sky.

There are 88 official constellations recognized by the international Astronomical Union.

This constellation is The form of Orion.

Stars

A star is a bright hot gas called a plasma which is held together by it’s own gravity.

Stars radiate energy created by nuclear fusion which is a process that takes the place in the star’s core and involves hydrogen.