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The Family of the Sun
Mercury Did you know Mercury is the closest planet to the sun? It
is 36 million miles from the sun.
Mercury • No Satellites • 188 days to orbit the sun • Fastest Moving Planet: 30 miles per
minute • Smallest planet
• Dry Rocky Planet covered in craters
• Smallest Planet • Has no atmosphere
Just thought you would like to know more about the 8 planets
in the family of the sun.
Venus Did you know Venus is the 2nd planet from the sun? It is 67.3 million miles from the sun
Venus • 225 Days to orbit the sun • A day (243 Earth Days is longer than a
year on Earth (225 Earth days) • No satellites
• Hot, dry and smooth surface • Volcanoes, mountains, valleys,
and plains • Brightest planet at night • Called Earth’s twin • Thick clouds of sulfuric acid
cover the surface
Just thought you would like to know more about the 8 planets
in the family of the sun.
Earth Did you know Earth is the 3rd planet from the sun? It is 93 million miles away from
the sun.
Earth • 364 ¼ days to orbit around the
sun • Rotates on its axis every 24 years • Tilted axis creates 4 seasons • One satellite: Moon orbits the
Earth every 28 days
• Only planet that sustains life • Water covers 71% of surface • Fresh water, frozen at the poles
Earth The many layers of the Earth: • Thick rocky crust • Mantle • Inner Core • Outer Core
Mars Did you know Mars is the 4th planet from the sun? It is 141 million miles
away from the sun
Mars • 687 days to orbit the sun • Rotates on its axis every 24
hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds
• Has seasons like Earth • 2 satellites: Phobos and
Deimos
• No liquid water • Both poles are frozen • Very cold (-‐80 degrees) • Deep canyons, craters,
valleys, and very high mountains
• Called the ‘red planet’ from clouds of red dirt.
Just thought you would like to know more about the 8 planets
in the family of the sun.
Jupiter Did you know Jupiter is the 5th
planet from the sun? It is about 484 million miles from the sun.
Jupiter • 4,333 days to orbit the sun • 16 satellites • Fastest rota`on: 9 hours 56
minute day
• Great Red Spot-‐ hurricane of gas • Largest and heaviest planet • Atmosphere of clouds of
hydrogen and helium
Just thought you would like to know more about the 8 planets
in the family of the sun.
Saturn Did you know Saturn is the 6th planet from the sun? It is about 840 to 941 million
miles from the sun at different points of its ellipPcal orbit.
Saturn
• 10, 759 Earth days to orbit the sun
• Second Largest Planet • Rotates 2000 MPH
• Gas Planet-‐ no solid surface *Rocky core
• 60 Satellites • Most prominent rings-‐
made of countless small par`cles
Just thought you would like to know more about the 8 planets
in the family of the sun.
Uranus Did you know Uranus is the 7th
planet from the sun? It is about 779 million miles from the sun.
Uranus • 84 years to orbit the sun • 3rd largest planet
• 27 satellites • Blue-‐green ball of methane gas
and ice • Core of rock and ice • Winter 21 years long in darkness • Summer 21 years long in sunlight
Just thought you would like to know more about the 8 planets
in the family of the sun.
Neptune Did you know Neptune is the 8th
planet from the sun? It is about 780 million miles from the sun.
Neptune • 165 years to orbit the sun • 4th largest planet
• 13 satellites • Dwarf planets, comets
and asteroids beyond Neptune
• Windiest planet • Blue from methane gas
Just thought you would like to know more about the 8 planets
in the family of the sun.
Pluto Did you know Pluto is now a dwarf planet?
As of 2006, it is no longer one of the planets in the family of the sun.
Pluto • Does not meet the
requirements for a planet: • 1. Orbits the sun • 2. Big enough for gravity to
squash it into a ball shape. • 3. Must have cleared
things out of the way of orbital neighborhood.
• Pluto does not clear orbital neighborhood
• Eris and Pluto are known dwarf planets
• Part of the Kuiper belt • New Horizons voyage will
fly by Pluto in 2015
Just thought you would like to know more about the 8 planets
in the family of the sun.
