Exploring your Solar System!
The Solar System is full of different rocks and planets right next to our own home. Here are some awesome facts about where you live in space. The Sun The Sun is a star and is at the centre of our Solar System. It keeps our planet warm and allows humans to live. The Sun is made up of gases and burning hot liquid with a core temperature that can reach 16 million degrees celsius. Thatʼs like 60 thousand ovens burning at once. Scorching! Mercury Mercury is the closest planet to the sun and also the smallest. The surface of Mercury is very much like our Moon. It is very dusty with lots of craters, from comets and asteroids hitting the planet. Even though it is three times smaller than Earth it is actually heavier! Venus After the Moon, Venus is the brightest natural object in the night sky. Venus is sometimes called Earthʼs sister planet, because of their similar size and gravity. But you wouldnʼt like to go and live there. Venus is so hot that its surface could melt metal! Earth Our home is the only place, that we have seen, which still has liquid water. This is essential to human life. This makes Earth the most unique planet in our Solar System. Woo go Earth! Mars The ʻred planetʼ gets its nickname from layers of rust that covers its surface. Mars has only a third of the gravity of Earth, which means you, could jump three times higher on Mars! Thatʼs as high as a house. No need for a bouncy castle on this planet! Jupiter Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. It is 318 times heavier than Earth. Its gravity is so intense that if you were to go there your head would be sucked into your feet!
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Saturn Saturn is the second largest planet in the Solar System. The planet has rings surrounding it that are made up of millions of snowballs. You could have a really big snowball fight with all of them! The planet is so light that if there were an ocean big enough it would float! Uranus Uranus is not just a funny word it is also a really amazing planet. It is known as the ʻice giantʼ and because of its tremendous pressure scientists believe that on the surface there could be trillions of diamonds! Neptune Neptune is a stormy blue planet with a molten rock core. It has winds on its surface travelling at 1,200 miles per hour. Which is six times faster than the most powerful hurricane on Earth and you thought your dad had powerful wind! For Launchpad Magazine
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