S o la r S y s t e m S o la r S y s t e m

““ Th e u n c h a r t e d f r o n t ie r ” Th e u n c h a r t e d f r o n t ie r ”

: C o m p o s e d b y An d y La m a n c u s a : C o m p o s e d b y An d y La m a n c u s a : Illu s t r a t e d b y Am b e r S c h a e f e r : Illu s t r a t e d b y Am b e r S c h a e f e r

Th e S o la r Th e S o la rS y s t e mS y s t e m

The solar system consists of nine planets, all of which revolve around the sun.

!Le t s E x p lo r e !Le t s E x p lo r e

Click on the yellow boxes above the planets to learn more!

S u nS u nThis king of our Solar System rules because compared to everything else, it is so large. It contains about 98% of all the mass, or rocks, dust, and gas in the Solar System. If the Sun were hollow a million Earths could fit inside.

The Sun's surface is a warm 6,000 degrees Celsius. This is the same temperature as the Earth's core.

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/our_sun.htm use for more information.

M e r c u r yM e r c u r yIn astronomy mythology, Mercury was the Roman version of the god Hermes. He was the messenger for the other gods, and for this reason Mercury is often depicted in pictures with winged sandals.

Mercury means:

Mercury is a world of extremes. Because it is so close to the Sun a visitor could easily cook to death. However because Mercury spins so slowly it gets very cold in the night time, which means a visitor could also freeze to death.

As Mercury's massive iron core cooled, it contracted, or shrunk. As the core shrunk, the surface became wrinkled, in a similar manner to the way the surface of a balloon becomes wrinkled as air is released from it.

Ve n u sVe n u sVenus means:

In astronomy mythology, Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty. In Greek her name was Aphrodite.

Venus is a hostile planet. Its thick cloud cover makes it impossible to see the surface, and also traps much of the Sun's heat. This extra heat gives Venus the hottest average temperature of any of the planets.

In many ways Venus is similar to the Earth. It has active volcanoes, venusquakes, mountains and valleys. The major difference is that Venus's atmosphere makes the planet far too hot for life.

E a r t h E a r t h

M a r sM a r s

J u p it e rJ u p it e r

S a t u r nS a t u r n

U r a n u sU r a n u s

N e p t u n eN e p t u n e

P lu t oP lu t o

O t h e rO t h e r