the solar system linking project

The Sun

The Sun is our solar system's star

The Sun is over 4.5 billion years old

Facts - 
Diameter - 1.39 Million km 
Temperature = 5600°C
Number of moons - 0 (it's a star, not a planet)

All planets in the Solar System orbit (move around) the Sun. It is the source of all our energy.

The suns light takes 8 minutes to reach Earth. This is known as the speed of light, which is 299,792,458 m/s!

This is a Solar flare - this happens when gases on the surface of the Sun shoot out into space. 

Did you know the Sun is about 100 times wider than Earth, but it is just an average sized star

Earth

Earth is the third closest planet to The Sun. Venus and Mars are it's neighbouring planets

Facts - 
Diameter - 12,742km 
Temperature range - -88°C - 58°C
Number of moons - 1

It is the only planet we have found that contains life

The Earth has one moon (the only planet in the Solar system that does) and it orbits the Earth every 27.3 days

The atmoshpere around Earth is made up of mosly Nitrogen and Oxygen, allowing us to breath

Did you know the Earth rotates at over 1000mph?

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun in our solar system

Mars is also known as the ‘Red Planet’ because it’s red! This signature colour comes from the large amount of a chemical called iron oxide (or ‘rust’ as you might know it) in its rocks and soil.

Facts - 
Diameter - 6791km 
Temperature range - -140°C - 20°C
Number of moons - 2

Did you know Mars is named after the greek god of war? 

Saturn

Facts 
Diameter - 116,460km 
Temperature range - -188°C to -122°C
Number of moons - 145

Saturn is huge. It is the second largest planet in our Solar System. Jupiter is the only planet that is bigger.
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Saturn's beautiful rings are not solid.They are made up of bits of ice, dust and rock.

You cannot stand on Saturn. It is not like Earth. Saturn is made mostly of gases. It has a lot of helium. This is the same kind of gas that you put in balloons.

Saturn can be seen occassionally in the night sky without the use of a telescope. It looks like a big bright star, but is in fact a planet!

Did you know Saturday is named after Saturn?

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Mercury

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Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. It's just a little bigger than Earth's moon

It is the closest planet to the sun, but it's actually not the hottest. Venus is hotter.

Along with Venus, Earth, and Mars, Mercury is one of the rocky planets. It has a solid surface that is covered with craters. In fact the surface looks very much like the moon.

Jupiter

Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system.

Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system.

Jupiter is a gas giant. It is made mostly of hydrogen and helium.

Jupiter has rings like Saturn, but they're very hard to see.

Jupiter has 80 confirmed moons, and they suspect it has many more!!

Venus' surface

Even though Venus isn't the closest planet to the Sun, it is still the hottest.

Venus has a thick atmosphere full of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and clouds made of sulfuric acid. The gas traps heat and keeps Venus toasty warm. In fact, it's so hot on Venus, metals like lead would be puddles of melted liquid.

Venus is unusual because it spins the opposite direction of Earth and most other planets. And its rotation is very slow.

Venus

Just like Mercury, Venus doesn't have any moons.