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Our sun is simply a star, one among trillions in the universe. It is a middle
sized star and it was born 5 billion years ago. It originally formed from gas
and dust, and as more matter accumulated in the center, the hotter the
center got. The reason it is hot today is because it undergoes nuclear
fusion, the combination of atoms to form new atoms. The fuel that the sun
burns through is hydrogen and the end product is helium, but this is
different from fires on earth. The spots on the sun are called sun spots,
areas which are cooler than the rest of the sun, and that is why the appear
lighter.
Since Mercury has a smaller mass than that of Earth, a person on Mercury
would weigh less than they do on Earth. Since Mercury is the closest to the
sun, it is visible from Earth only in the late evenings or early morning sky.
Mercy is made out of al to of heavier elements like iron. The Lobate Scarps
on Mercury are actually the wrinkles on its crust, some of which are over a
mile high. Similar to the Moon, Mercury is scarred from impact. However it
cannot get rid of these craters because it lacks volcanic activity.
Additionally, Mercury has no atmosphere.
Since Venus has a similar mass to that of the Earth, a person would weight
approximately the same there as they do on Earth. Venus has an
atmosphere that is much thicker than that of Earths. Due to this, scientists
have difficulty seeing the surface of Venus. Venus is considered Earths
sister planet because it has very similar size, makeup, and density. Since
Venus has volcanic activity as well, it probably does not have many craters
either. We believe Venus originally had water but due to its proximity to the
sun, the water was boiled off into the atmosphere where it acted as a
greenhouse gas and increased the temperature of the surface even more.
Earth is the biggest of all the terrestrial planets. Around 70% of Earths
crust is covered by oceans, something unique to our planet. The Earth has
one moon whose gravity affects many natural phenomena on Earth
including tides and the slowing of the Earths rotational velocity.
Additionally the Earth is the only planet we currently know of that has life.
Mars is also considerably smaller than Earth and due to this a person
would weigh considerably less than they do on Earth. Mars is unique in the
terrestrial planets because it has very similar surface temperatures to

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Earth, and due to this we believe that Mars had water in its recent past.
However now Mars only has water stored in ice caps at its poles. Mars has
two moons, Deimos and Phobos. Finally, Mars has the highest mountains
and deepest creates of any planet in our Solar System, as well as the
biggest volcano, Olympus Mons.
Jupiter has a much greater mass than Earth and due to this a person
would weight almost twice as much on Jupiter. Jupiter is the largest planet
in the Solar System; so big that 1000 Earths could fit inside of it. The red
spot visible on Jupiter is considered to be a huge storm raging on for at
least 300 years. The storm is so large that three Earths could fit inside of it.
Jupiter is considered a gas giant because it does not have a solid surface.
Once you get through its atmosphere, there is a large ocean of hydrogen
and water. Jupiter also has 50 moons.
Saturn is larger than the Earth but not nearly as large as Jupiter, and due
to this you would weight a bit more on Saturn. Saturn like Jupiter is a gas
giant with oceans of liquid chemicals under its atmosphere. Because of
this, Saturn actually is the least dense planet in our Solar System. Actually
the density is so little that Saturn could float on water. Saturns rings over
160,000 miles wide but less than mile thick. These rings are made out of
ice, dust, and rocks.
Uranus is smaller than Earth as well and due to that you would weight a
little bit less there. Uranus is also a gas giant but unlike the other planets, it
spins on its side. We believe that this is because of a large moon which
might have pulled the planet on its side. Uranus is called the ice giant
because it is made up of rock and ice. Interesting, because of the pressure
of Uranus, there might be trillions of diamonds on its surface.
Neptune is very similar to Uranus. Neptune was the first planet to be
discovered by mathematics before it was actually seen by a telescope. It is
the smaller of the gas giants and has similar atmospheric composition as
the other gas giants. Most of our information about Neptune came from the
Voyager 2 craft which passed it in 1989. We believe that the large dark
spot on it is a storm but we do not know how long it has been active for.
Neptune is very windy with windows over 1,200 miles per hour. Neptune
also has 13 moons.

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Since Pluto is so small, a person would only weight 5% of their weight on

it. Interestingly enough, Pluto was named by an 11 year old girl in England.
It is actually not a planet but a dwarf planet is because it is so small and
because it has a moon that is very similar to its size. In total Pluto has four
moons, with Charon being the one similar in size. Also, Plutos revolution
around the sun is not exactly circular but more of an oval shape.
Sometimes this causes Pluto to orbit inside Neptunes orbit.