| The Sun is a star |
The Sun |
| The Sun makes up 99.86% of the mass in the Solar System |
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| The Sun creates energy through nuclear fusion |
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| It takes eight minutes for light from the Sun to reach Earth |
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| The Sun is 4.5 billion years old. About halfway through its life |
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| Mercury is the smallest planet and the closest to the Sun |
Mercury |
| A day on Mercury lasts 6 months. A year lasts for 3 months |
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| Mercury has wrinkles which were caused by the planet cooling |
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| Mercury has more craters than any other planet in the Solar System |
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| Mercury's atmosphere is very thin |
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| Venus is almost exactly the size of Earth |
Venus |
| Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System |
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| Venus rotates in the opposite direction to most other planets |
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| Seen from Earth, only the Sun and Moon are brighter than Venus |
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| Venus (along with Mercury) has no moons or rings |
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| Earth is the only planet not named after a Roman god |
Earth |
| The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System |
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| Earth takes 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds to rotate on its axis |
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| As far as we know, Earth is the only place that life exists |
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| Scientists have found evidence of Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars |
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| The tallest mountain in the solar system is on Mars |
Mars |
| There is no liquid water on Mars though it is there in solid form |
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| Mars has two moons |
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| Sunsets on Mars are blue |
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| Mars' orbit is the least circular of all the planets |
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| Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System |
Jupiter |
| At 10 hours, Jupiter has the shortest day of all the planets |
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| Jupiter is famed for its red spot - a storm twice the size of Earth |
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| Jupiter has a minimum of 67 moons. There may be dozens more |
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| Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is larger than the planet Mercury |
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| Saturn is the most distant planet that can be seen with the naked eye |
Saturn |
| Saturn's rings are made mostly of ice, with some rock and dust thrown in |
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| Saturn has more moons than any other planet |
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| If it could be placed in water, Saturn would float |
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| You could fit 764 Earths inside Saturn |
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| Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781 |
Uranus |
| Uranus (along with neptune) is an “ice giant” |
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| Uranus is the coldest of the planets |
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| Like Saturn, Uranus has rings |
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| Uranus rotates on its side, unlike any other planet |
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| Neptune is the furthest planet from the Sun |
Neptune |
| Neptune has the strongest winds in the Solar System |
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| Neptune was discovered independently by two astronomers in 1846 |
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| Neptune appears blue due to the methane in its atmosphere |
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| Neptune has 14 moons. The largest is Triton |
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| Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh |
Pluto |
| Until 2006, Pluto was a planet. It is now considered a dwarf planet |
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| Pluto is a Kuiper Belt object |
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| Pluto is smaller than Earth's Moon |
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| Most of Pluto is made from ice |
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