The Solar System
by: William Hosking
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3....2....1 Blast Off!
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The Sun:
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The Planets:
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Mercury
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Venus:
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Earth and Moon:
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Mars:
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Jupiter:
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Saturn:
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Uranus:
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Neptune:
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Some more planet facts:
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We are on our way into space. While humans can get into space, separate technology is needed to travel to each of the planets. In fact, space travel is so dangerous, NASA, our national space agency, has stopped all space explorationuntil a safer shuttle can be developed. Emma will be your guide in thinking what you might need to survive in space, and on each planet. Maybe you could be the inventor of the new technology needed to survive on other planets.
View a space launch here!
Let's start our journey!
The Sun is the center of our Solar System. The name solar system even comes from the fact that the sun is the center. The sun provides heat and light to each of the planets. It is a star, the only star in our Solar System. This star is so bright, it causes us to need sunglasses in the summer. It is so hot that it causes temperatures on Earth to soar above 100 degree F even though Earth is millions of miles away!
Before we continue, it is important to know two things about planets. The first is that all planets rotate, like the image to the right. One rotation causes day and night
The planets also revolve, like the image below. This is responsible for a year on each planet. The length of time it takes to make one revolution is a year.
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. It's year is equal to 88 earth days, and one day is 58 earth days. It has no moons. You would have a lot of fun birthdays on Mercury!
Venus is the hottest planet. it has a thick atmosphere. One day is 243 Earth days long, while one year is 225 Earth days long. Days are longer than years. It would be fun to have everyday be your birthday!
Our Earth is a planet we are very familiar with. It has one moon. This is the only object in the solar system, other than earth, that man has walked on. What an accomplishment!
Mars is also known as the red planet. it is one of the brightest objects we can see from Earth in the night sky. It also has days almost equal to ours, but its years are almost twice as long.
Jupiter is the largest planet. It is famous for its big red spot, which is actually a storm. Earth would fit inside this spot.
Saturn is famous for its giant rings. This is millions of satellitesorbiting the surface of Saturn. Saturn itself is just a giant ball of gas.
Uranus has a year that is 84 Earth years long. Its day is only 18 hours long. Most people would only live through 1 birthday on Uranus.
Neptune is named after the ancient god of the ocean. It has a year that is equal to 165 Earth years and a day that is equal to 19.1 Earth hours.
Here are a few final things about the planets: