Mercury

Mercuryistheclosestplanettothesun.Ittakeseightyeightearthdaysfor
Mercurytorevolvearoundthesunonce.Mercuryhasthefastestorbitin
theSolarSystembecauseofthedistanceawayfromthesun.Everytwo
timesMercurygoesaroundthesun,itspinsatotalofthreetimes.Mercury,
Venus,andtheDwarfplanetshavenomoonsbecauseofthesizeofthe
planet.Theyaretoosmalltokeepanobjectpulledin.Mercuryisthe
closestplanettothesun,butitisnotthehottest.Venusisthehottest
planetintheSolarSystembecauseofthethickcloudsthatsurroundthe
planet.Mercury,likemostplanetsinourSolarSystemarenamedaftera
god.MercuryisnamedaftertheGodofCommerce.TheGodofCommerce
isthewingedmessengerofGods.

Venus
Inmanyways,VenusislikeEarth.Theyarebothroughlythesamesize,
bothweighaboutthesame
andhaveaverysimilarcomposition.Theyare
alsonexttoeachother.Although,manythingsaredifferentbetweenthe
two.LifeisnotsuitableonVenusformanyreasons.Venushasnowater
makingveryhardanythingtolivethere.TheatmosphereonVenusis96%
CarbonDioxide.Theother4%isMisc.Venusseverydaytemperatureisa
scorching864degrees.Thecloudsallowheattoentertheplanet,butnotto
leaveit.Ifyouweretoputleadonthesurfaceoftheplanet,itwouldmelt.
Inournighttimesky,Venusisthebrightestobjecttosee.Venusreflectsan
insaneamountoflight.Venusrotatesveryslow.Itsrotationisdifferentthan
alltheotherplanets,itrotatesbackwards.ScientistdontknowwhyVenus
rotatesclockwise.It'samysteryyettobesolved.Venushasavarietyof
famouslandmarks.AnotheroneisMattMons.MattMonsisVenusstallest
volcano.

Earth
Newsflash!YouliveonEarth.Earthistheonlyplanetthatcanobtainlife.
Whilebeingthethirdplanetfromthesun,itisintheperfectplace.Any
closerorfartheritwouldnotbeabletokeeplife.Earthisalsotheonly
planettoholdliquidwaterandwateristhekeyfactortolife.Withoutit,life
wouldalsonotexist.Lifeonthisplanetisrareandaoneofitsownkind.
Wearestillreallyfarawayfromthesun.Lightfromthesuntakes8minutes
and29secondstoreachtheEarth.Earthshasasurfacegravityperfectfor
humans.Thesurfacegravityis9.8m/ssquared.Ihopeyouknowthis,but
Earthhasonemoon.Thenameofthemoonismoon.IttakesEarth365
1/4Earthdaystorevolvearoundthesunonce.Ihopeyoulearnedmore
abouttheplanetyouliveon.

Mars
Marsisthefourthplanetfromthesun.Ittakesmars687Earthdaysto
revolvearoundthesun.MostofthewateronMarsistrappedinthePolar
IceCaps.OlymposMonsisthelargestVolcanoonMars.OlymposMons
baseisthesizeofNebraska.MarsisdifferentfromtheEarthinthesense
ofmovingtectonics.Earthhasthem,butMarsdoesnot.Thetemperatures
aresignificantlydifferentfromEarth's.Marstemperaturesrangefrom20
and130.MarsisoveralldifferentfromtheEarthbecauseofthereasons
thatyouread.

Jupiter
Jupiteristhefifthplanetfromthesun.Itisthebiggestandthemost
heaviestplanetinourSolarSystem.Infact,Jupiteristhemoreheavier
thanalltheplanetscombinedanddoubled.Jupiterhasabigstorm.The
nameofthestormisGreatRedSpot.Jupiteristhethirdbrightestobject
inthesky.Itreflectsalotoflightintospace.Jupiterhasatonofmoons.67

tobeexact.Jupiterhasthemostamountofmoons.Jupiterisknownwell
forthis.JupiterisalsoknownastheGasPlanet.Ithasthemostamountof
Gas.

Saturn
Saturniswellknownforitsrings.Saturnhas4maingroupsofringsand3
fainter.TherearethousandsofsmallringsaroundSaturn.Saturnisthe
fastestplanetintheSolarSystem.Saturnhas150moonsandmoonlets.
SaturnistheflattestplanetintheSolarSystem.Itisalsothelightestplanet.
IfyouweretoputSaturninabigbathtub,itwouldfloat.Wehavesent4
spacecraftstoSaturn.TheastronomerGalileoGalileidiscoveredSaturn
longago.Itisnowawellknownplanet.

Uranus
UranusisdifferentthanalltheotherplanetsintheSolarSystemUranus
wasthefirstplanetdiscoveredwiththeuseofatelescope.Uranushasa
revolutionaslongas84years.UranusisnotwarmestplanetintheSolar
System.Infact,it'sthecoldestoneoutthere.Withthefreezing
temperaturesonUranusanditsoverusednameforjokes,Uranushasvery
thinrings.Uranushasringsaroundthetiltedaxis.Astronomersthink
Uranuswashitbyameteorbecauseitspinsdifferent.Ihopeyoulearned
moreaboutUranusbyreadingthis.

Neptune
Neptunespinvery,veryrapidcomparedtotheotherplanets.Neptune,just
likeUranus,hasverythinrings.Theybotharebarelyvisible.Neptunehas
adifferentsetofringsfromUranus.Neptunehas4rings.Allofthemare

thin,soitishardtoseethem.Neptuneisactuallythebiggesticeplanetin
theSolarSystem.Neptuneisaninterestingplanetbecauseitisthefarthest
planetfromthesunandthebiggesticeplanet.

DwarfPlanets
TherearefivedwarfplanetsinourSolarSystem.
Ceres,Pluto,Haumea,
MakemakeandErisarethenamesofthedwarfplanets.Ceresisthe
closesttothesunwhileErisisthefarthest.Theorderfromthesunis
Ceres,Pluto,Haumea,Makemake,withEris.Plutohasfiveknownnames
throughoutitshistory.Ithasthemostnamesofanydwarfplanets.
Scientifically,plutoisnotaplanet.Manypeoplearguethatplutoisaplanet,
butmanyscientistshavestatedthattheyarenotplanets.