The Solar System
How the solar system was formed
It came into being about 4.5 billion years ago
It came to be when a cloud of gas collapsed
Our solar system is one of over 500 in the milky way galaxy
The nebula collided, therefore, creating our solar system
The planets
The solar system is located in the milky ways Orion start cluster
There are 8 planets that revolve around the sun.
They are broken into 2 categories, Terrestrial (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) and Jovian (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Jovian planets include the gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) and the ice giants (Uranus and Neptune).
The gas giants are mostly helium and hydrogen.
The ice giants contain rock, ice and a mixture of water, methane and ammonia.
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Jovian planets have ring systems, no solid surfaces, multiple moons and are very large.
Terrestrial planets are mostly rocky, don't have many moons, don't have many rings, have hard surfaces and are primarily small
Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet to the sun but not the hottest
It has no moons
It is the smallest planet in our solar system and is only a little bit bigger than Earth's moon.
Each day is long
Every rotation on Mercury takes 59 Earth days
They have a sunrise once every 180 Earth days
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Venus
Earth
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It is the hottest planet in our solar system though Mercury is closer to the sun
It has a thick atmosphere which results in the gas trapping all the heat
It has mountains and volcanoes
It is just a but bigger than Earth
It takes 243 Earth days to turn
It takes 225 days for Venus to rotate the sun which means that a day on Venus is over a year on Venus.
It has no moons
One Earth day is 24 hours
One year is 365.25 days so every four years the year is one day longer
Water covers 70% of Earth
It can support a life form
The atmosphere is the right thickness to keep us warm enough to survive
Earth has one moon
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Mars
Mars is cold
It is half the size of Earth
It is referred to as the red planet because of rusty iron in the ground
There are signs of ancient floods on Mars meaning that it could potentially support life
One day lasts 24.6 hours
One year lasts 687 Earth days
It has 2 moons, Phobos and Deimos
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Jupiter
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system
It has a storm that has been going on for hundreds of years
The storm has left a red spot on Jupiter's surface
Jupiter has rings but they are too faint to see
It is a gas giant so it doesn't have a solid surface
One day is 10 hours
One year is 11.8 Earth years
Jupiter has 79 confirmed moons
Saturn
It is the sixth planet from the sun
Saturn's rings are made up of ice and rock
Like Jupiter, it is mostly made of hydrogen and helium
It has 7 main rings
One day is 10.7 hours
One year is 29 Earth years
It has 53 confirmed moons
It has 2 unconfirmed moons that we need to learn more about
Uranus
It is the seventh planet from the sun
It spins on it's side
It is made from methane, water and ammonia fluids
The methane makes Uranus blue
Uranus has faint rings
It has 13 rings
One day on Uranus takes 17 hours and 14 minutes
One year takes 84 Earth Years
It has 27 known moons
Neptune
It is the eight planet from the sun
It is the coldest planet because it is the furthest from the sun
it is more then thirty times as far from the sun as Earth is
It's made of thick fog and is much like Uranus
Neptune has 6 faint rings
One day is equal to 16 hours
One year is 165 Earth years
Neptune has 13 moons and one that is awaiting confirmation of discovery