On a clear summer night, you can look up and see a blanket of stars covering the sky. If you are lucky, you will also be able to see a planet or two.
It may seem like the stars are just out of reach, but they are very far away. The closest star to us is the sun, which is the center of our solar system. The solar system is made up of the sun, eight planets, other objects going around it, and a whole lot of nothing in between. Let’s take a brief journey through our little corner of the universe.
The sun is the largest object in our solar system. It is so big, it could contain more than a million Earths. Each planet moves around the sun.
The smallest planet, Mercury, is at the front of the line. It only takes 88 days for Mercury to travel around the sun.
Venus is farther from the sun than Mercury, but it is the hottest planet. It is sometimes called “Earth’s sister” because it is close in size and shape to Earth. Earth, our home, is the only planet known to have life. The next planet, Mars, is known as the “Red Planet” because of its color.
Jupiter is the largest planet. It has a red spot that is roughly the size of Earth. Next comes Saturn. You might know about Saturn’s rings, but did you know they are made out of floating rocks and ice?
Uranus is the only planet that spins end over end, like a rolling soccer ball. Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun. It is dark and cold, and strong winds are always blowing. It takes Neptune 165 Earth years to go around the sun just once.