THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The solar system is made up of our nearest star, the Sun, and everything that orbits or travels around it. This includes planets, moons, comets, asteroids, smaller rocks, and dust.

SUN

The Sun is a medium-sized star. The Sun's powerful force of gravity pulls on the planets, keeping them in orbit around it. The Sun is a kind of star that scientists call a yellow dwarf.

MERCURY

Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system.  It's a little bigger than our moon. Closets planet to the Sun.

MERCURY

Radius

Length of Year

Distance From Sun

One Way Light Time to the Sun

Moons

2,439.7 km

88 Earth Days

46.639 million km

3.2 minutes

0

VENUS

Spins slowly in the opposite direction from most planets. A thick atmosphere traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in our solar system.

VENUS

Radius

Length of Year

Distance From Sun

One Way Light Time to the Sun

Moons

6,051.8 km

225 days

107.7 million km

6.0 minutes

0

EARTH

Earth is the only place we know so far inhabited by living things. It's also the only planet in our solar system with liquid water on the surface.

EARTH

Radius

Length of Year

Distance From Sun

One Way Light Time to the Sun

Moons

6,371 km

365 days

149.7 million km

8.32 minutes

1

MARS

Mars is known as the "Red Planet." because its dusty surface contains rust. Many spacecraft have visited Mars to study its weather, surface, and rocks.

MARS

Radius

Length of Year

Distance From Sun

One Way Light Time to the Sun

Moons

3,389.5 km

687 days

218.58 million km

12.6 minutes

2

JUPITER

Jupiter is by far the largest planet in our solar system. It is made mostly of gas and has more than 60 moons orbiting it. Jupiter is so huge that all the other planets in the solar system could fit inside it.

JUPITER

Radius

Length of Year

Distance From Sun

One Way Light Time to the Sun

Moons

69,911 km

12 years

741.31 million km

35 to 52 minutes

79

SATURN

It is adorned with a dazzling, complex system of icy rings. It is most famous for its rings.

SATURN

Radius

Length of Year

Distance From Sun

One Way Light Time to the Sun

Moons

58,232 km

29 years

1.4726 billion km

79.3 minutes

62

URANUS

Unlike the other planets, Uranus spins on its side. This might have been caused by a collision with an Earth-sized object.

URANUS

Radius

Length of Year

Distance From Sun

One Way Light Time to the Sun

Moons

25,362 km

84 years

2.9437 billion km

159.6 minutes

27

NEPTUNE

Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun, so it is freezing cold! If it were possible, it would take a jumbo jet about 400 years to fly from Earth to Neptune.

NEPTUNE

Radius

Length of Year

Distance From Sun

One Way Light Time to the Sun

Moons

24,622 km

165 years

4.4739 billion km

4.1 hours

14

PLUTO

Pluto is the largest dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt.

PLUTO

Radius

Length of Year

Distance From Sun

One Way Light Time to the Sun

Moons

1,188.3 km

248 years

3.7 billion miles

5 1/2 hours

5

Scientists think the asteroid belt contains the leftover rocks from when the planets were formed.

ASTEROID BELT

The Kuiper belt is a very distant part of the solar system. It is the home of icy dwarf planets and comets.

KUIPER BELT

Our solar system is part of a galaxy called the Milky Way. It is spiral in shape and has more than 100 billion stars. Scientists think there is a huge black hole, sucking in dust, gas, and light, at its center.

MILKY WAY