THE SOLAR SYSTEM

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM QUICK FACTS.Solar System is made up of a star and everything that travels around it from planets, their satellites and dwarf planets. Also includes asteroids, comets, and meteroids.

Sun exerts a gravitational pull on all the bodies within the system.

Our solar system is located in the Orion arm of the milky way galaxy.

THE SUN

Quick Facts:92.1 Percent Hydrogen and 7.8 percent hellium.

Gases held together by gravity,

Makes up 99.8 percent of all masses in the solar systemYellow Dwarf star, 4.6 billion years old.

MERCURY

Quick Facts: Smallest planet in our system.

Only 36 million miles away from the sun

Day time temperatures up to 800 degrees F and Night time temperatures up to -290 F.

VENUS

Quick Facts:One day on Venus lasts as long as 243 Earth day. Thick and toxic atmosphere made of carbon dioxide and nitrogen with sulfuric acid dropletsRetrogade rotation, spins backwards.

EARTH

Quick Facts:93 Million miles from our sunPerfect breathable atmosphere. Only planet in our solar system known to support life.

EARTH’S MOON

Quick Facts:239 Thousand miles away from EarthOver 100 spacecraft launched to explore the moon, including humansMakes a complete orbit of Earth in 27 days

MARSQuick Facts:

142 million miles away from the sun

Last terrestrial planet in solar system order

Has two moons, Phobos and Deimos

ASTEROIDS

JUPITER

Quick Facts:

Largest planet in our solar system

Gas giant, with no solid surface, may have an inner solid core about the size of the Earth

Has a faint ring.

SATURN

Quick Facts:

53 known moons, with 9 under confirmation

Most complex ring system in our solar system, has seven rings.

Cassini mission exploring Saturn and its moon and rings since 2004

URANUS

Quick Facts:

1.8 Billion miles away from the sun

Orbit around the sun takes about 84 Earth years

Has retrograde rotation, rotates on its side and spins horizontally.

NEPTUNE

Quick Facts:

Complete Orbit around sun takes about 165 Earth years

Sister ice giant to Uranus

13 moons and 1 waiting confirm, all named after Sea Gods and Nymphs from Greek mythology.

DWARF PLANETS

METEOROIDS

COMETS

THE END OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

BIBLIOGRAPHY•

Burdick, Autumn. "Planets." Solar System Exploration. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 17 Feb. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm>.