The Solar System

1. The Solar System By Rona Anderson

2. Meet Sparx Hello I’m Sparx and I’m going to be your guide to the solar system! Follow me and we’ll begin our journey through the milky way! If you don’t understand a word, click on the question mark on the page and it will take you to the Glossary

3. I’m looking for a new home. Can you help me find one in your solar system? I need air, water, food and somewhere to land my spaceship. It can’t be to hot or too cold either.

4. Mercury 1 Mercury’s year is only 88 days which means you get two birthdays! But don’t think about moving just yet, during the day it’s boiling hot and at night it’s freezing cold! This is because Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. Mercury looks a bit like our moon. It has lots of craters and like the moon it has no atmosphere. This means there’s no air! Definitely not the best place to live but lets keep looking!

5. Venus 2 Venus is the closest planet to earth and is about the same size . It is the hottest planet in the solar system. It is 460 degrees Celsius on the surface. That’s hot enough to melt lead! Venus is hot because it has an atmosphere that’s made from carbon dioxide. This traps heat from the sun and heats it up. Just like a warm blanket. Above the steaming planet there are swirling clouds of acid rain and winds that blow at 360 kph. Nope I don’t want to live here!

6. Earth 3 Earth is the only planet that has life on it that we know. (That’s you!) It’s the perfect distance from the sun because it’s not too hot and not too cold. 71% of it’s surface is covered in water and in the centre it’s molten rock. It has two polar caps that are covered in ice called the Arctic and the Antarctic. Hmm…. It takes 365.28 days for earth to orbit the sun and 24 hours to rotate on it’s axis. The moon controls our tides because it’s so close.

7. Mars 4 Mars is sometimes known as the red planet. It looks red hot but in fact it’s very cold. It’s the dust that covers the surface of Mars that makes it look red. It’s features include: raging dust storms, very little atmosphere, dead volcanoes and craters. Mars has 2 moons that are very small. They’re called Phobos and Deimos and are so small that they’ve never had enough gravity to pull themselves into a tight ball. Too dusty!

8. Jupiter 5 Jupiter is the largest planet. Earth could fit into it 318 times. It’s made of gas and is 90% Hydrogen and 10% Helium. This means that Jupiter isn’t solid; at the centre it’s molten lava and gas so there’s no where to stand at all! No where to land my space ship. The red spot is a giant storm. It’s 2 times bigger than earth and has been going for 300 years as far as we know.

9. Saturn 6 Saturn is the second largest planet and possibly the most beautiful. It’s rings look solid but they’re really rings of ice and gas that orbit the planet. Saturn also holds the record for moons. It has 18 moons but some of them are very small. Titan is the biggest of Saturn's moons, even bigger than Mercury. Saturn looks nice but, like Jupiter, it’s a big ball of gas.

10. Uranus 7 Uranus looks like its fallen over! But it is supposed to be like that. It has rings like Saturn but they’re much thinner. It has an atmosphere made from hydrogen, helium and methane. It’s clouds of methane make it that lovely blue colour. It has: 15 moons A rocky core narrow icy rings No air!

11. Neptune 8 Neptune is the coldest place we know in our solar system. It’s -235 degrees Celsius on the surface. Neptune’s weather isn't great either! Winds blow at 2,200 kph on the surface Too Cold! It has: Triton 8 moons A few small rings Triton it’s biggest moon.

12. Pluto 9 Pluto is the smallest planet and is also the furthest away. It is only a fifth of the diameter of earth. It’s the baby of the family! Pluto has an oval shaped orbit which means for twenty years out of 248 it is closer than Neptune. The diameter is the length around the middle of the planet. It’s too small and too far away.

13. The Sun This is our sun. Its name is Sol. It looks like it’s on fire but it’s really just a big ball of gas that’s glowing because of nuclear reactions inside it. If the sun was hollow you could fit a million earths inside it. It makes up 98% of all the rocks and gas in our solar system. The sun is 15,000,000 degrees Celsius at the center

14. Astronauts Astronauts are people who explore space. They are sent into space by a space shuttle. It takes a lot of training to be an astronaut and you have to be very clever. The first man on the moon was Neil Armstrong in 1969. Now there is a space station and some people even go on holiday in space!

15. Planet X? Planet X is an unknown planet. As you know Pluto's orbit is oval shaped but why? Many believe that the Bible prophesised that Planet X would come in the future. Hmmm… Some scientists think that there is a planet which pulled out of it’s orbit but that changed Pluto’s orbit.

16. So we’ve searched our solar system and seen all the planets. There was only one that I could live on though….Earth. So look out for me!

17. Glossary Atmosphere – Gases that are around a planet Axis – An imaginary pole that a planet spins on Diameter – Straight line through a circle or ball Molten - Melted rock or metal Orbit – The path a planet travels around the Sun Prophesised – Predicted in the future This has all the words you might not understand Back

18. Quiz • So how well do you know your planets? Test your knowledge in this quiz! • How hot is the sun at the centre? • What is the coldest place in our solar system? • What’s the hottest planet in our solar system? • What are Saturn’s rings made from? • Which planet has the most moons? • How much of Earth is covered by water? • Where do you get 2 birthdays? • What are Mars’ moons called? • What shape is Pluto’s orbit? • How many moons does Uranus have? Answers

19. Quiz Answers • The sun is 15 million degrees at the centre • Neptune • Mercury • Ice and rocks • Jupiter • 71% • Mercury • Phobos, Deimos • Oval • 15 moons So how well did you do? Click this button to go back to the start.

20. It’s been nice talking to you, bye!