Our solar system is estimated to be about 4.5 Billion years old.  It’s made up by 8 planets, many stars (including the Sun), 146 moons, heaps of comets, asteroids and space rocks, ice, and dwarf plants such as Pluto.  The order of the eight planets from closet to farthest from the sun is Mercury;Venus;Earth;Mars;Jupiter;Saturn;Uranus;Neptune.  An easy way to remember is My very excellent mum just served us noodles (starting of every word is the start of the planets in order).

The Sun

The sun has many things orbiting around it at all times.  These things are planets, asteroids, and comets.  They travel around the sun in a flattened circle which is called an ellipse!  It takes different planets different amount of time to take a full trip around the sun e.g Mercury – 88 day, Pluto – 248 years, Earth – 1 year.  The sun is the brightest star in view from earth but it is in fact not the biggest!  Humans have found star that are 100 times bigger in diameter than the sun.  The biggest star (that we currently know of) is UY Scuti.  It is a variable hypergiant with a radius of about 1,700 times larger than the radius of the sun.  The volume of basically 5 billion suns could fit inside a sphere size of UY Scuti!

Moons

The moons orbit planets and currently, Jupiter is in the lead with the most named moons (50) but it has 150 other moons that haven’t been named yet (all together 200)!  Earth has one moon.  Mars has 2 moons.  Saturn has 146 moons in its orbit that range in size.  Mercury and Venus don’t have any moons unfortunately.

Planets

Mercury facts

1.  Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system!
2. Mercury has the thinnest atmosphere in our solar system.
3. The Romans believe gods & goddesses were in charge of Earth.  Mercury was named after the messenger for their gods.
4. Mercury has been shrinking for billions of years (it still is).
5. A crater on Mercury is named after Dr Suess!

Venus facts

1.  Even though Mercury is closer to the Sun Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system.
2. A day in Venus is longer than a year.
3. It rains sulfuric acid on Venus.
4. Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love – it’s the only planet in our solar system named after a female!
5. Venus has an active surface, including volcanoes.

Earth facts

1.  Earth isn’t flat nor is it round.
2. Coral reefs are the largest living structure on Earth.
3. Earth is the only astronomical object know to harbor life!
4. The atmosphere is made up from gases.
5. Earth is 4.54 billion years old (estimation).

Mars facts

1.  Mars is also known as the Red Planet because the surface is covered in iron giving it and orange-red colour!
2. Mars is named after the Roman god of war.
3. Mars has 2 moons,  their names are Phobos and Deimos.
4. Huge dust storms happen on mars and they last for months – they cover the entire planet!
5. In the Ancient past Mars actually had water but now all there is, is frozen water!

Jupiter facts

1.  Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in our solar system.
2. Jupiter has rings but they’re faint!
3. Jupiter had the shortest day out of all the planets (10 hours).
4. Jupiter is a gas giant, a ball of mostly hydrogen and helium large enough to hold more than 1,300 Earths!
5. Jupiter doesn’t have a solid surface.

Saturn facts

1. Saturn is a gas giant.
2. 1 year in Saturn is around 29 years on Earth!
3. You can’t stand on Saturn as it has no solid surface to stand on.  If you were to try and stand in Saturn you would sink thousands of miles to depths where the heat and pressure is so extremely high that not even the sturdiest submarine could survive!
4. Saturn is the least dense planet in our solar system.
5. Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture.

Uranus facts

1.  Uranus has a unique tilt which makes it spin sideways!
2. Unlike Jupiter & Saturn which are gas giants, Uranus is an ice giant as at least 80% of its mass is a fluid mix of water methane and ammonia ice!
3. Uranus has 13 rings.
4. Uranus is the coldest planet out of all 8 planets.
5. Uranus is named after the Greek god of the sky and according to myths, he is the father of Saturn & the grandfather of Jupiter!

Neptune facts

1.  1 year on Neptune is around 165 years on Earth!
2. Neptune is about 4 times wider than Earth.
3. Neptune is name after the Roman god of sea.
4. Neptune is an ice giant like Uranus.
5. You cannot land nor walk on Neptune since it doesn’t have a solid surface.  It is full of turbulent gasses and extreme winds and the temperature is far below freezing.

 

Overall our solar system is pretty cool and has lots of different things you can learn about wether it’s the planets and its features or the stars and comets you’re guaranteed to learn a fact or 2!