All about the Planets (and Sun)

The Sun
Mercury Venus and Earth

Mars
Jupiter Saturn Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto

My name is Astronaut Bob, and I will be taking you on the grand tour! Our first stop is the sun.

The sun (a star) is a big ball of burning gas. It provides energy to planet Earth. But, if you visit here, you better pack your sunscreen. The sun has a temperature between 6,000 and 15 million degrees Celsius.

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It is about the same size as our Moon. It rotates very slowly, finishing one rotation in 58 days and 15 minutes.

Mercury is very hot and very cold depending where you are. The temperature ranges from -300 F to 800 F. So, you would need to pack a coat and shorts to visit this planet.

Mercury looks a lot like our Moon. It has many craters. The surface of Mercury is VERY old. Mercury also has areas of very smooth, flat land. Make sure to pack good shoes if you visit this planet!

While visiting Mercury, be sure to visit the Caloris Basin. This basin is 2,000 miles wide. It was probably made by a HUGE impact made by a HUGE meteor! This is a must see, so dont forget.

Our next stop is Venus. Venus is the second planet in the solar system. It is the brightest object in the sky (besides the sun and moon) and is the 6th largest planet. It takes Venus 243 days to rotate.

Venus is thought of as Earths sister planet. It is about the same size as Earth and about the same age. Scientist think that Venus, at one time, had large amounts of water. But, because Venus is SO hot, it all boiled away!

There are two continents on Venus: Istar Terra and Aphrodite Terra. The surface of Venus contains many mountains and volcanoes. The planet has VERY high winds that reach up to 200 miles per hour.

Venus is VERY hot. The temperature reaches between 400 and 800 degrees. The reason it is so hot is because there is a very thick layer of clouds that keep the hot gases from leaving the planet. If you visit this planet, remember your sunscreen and gas mask!!

Our next stop is Earth. It is the 3rd planet from the sun, and is the only one known to have life of ANY kind. Earth has 1 moon. Different areas of Earth have different temperatures, but most places are able to sustain life!!!!!!

Earth completes one rotation every 23.93 hours, and it completes a revolution every 365.26 days. The highest point on planet Earth is Mt. Everest in Nepal (near China)!

Mars is the 4th planet from the sun. It is often called the Red Planet. Have you every looked in the sky and seen a red star? Well, it wasnt actually a star. It was the planet Mars. Mars has two satellites or moons.

Mars completes a revolution every 686.98 days. It completes one rotation every 24 hours and 37 minutes. What other planet makes a complete rotation about every 24 hours?

The temperature on Mars ranges from -207 degrees Fahrenheit to 80 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the season.

Mars has the highest mountain in ALL the solar system. Its name is Olympus Mons (78,000 ft). It also has a system of canyons called Valles Marineris. These two sights are MUST SEES if you every visit Mars!!!

Many missions to Mars have tried to determine if there is life on Mars. The Viking landers performed many of these experiments, but found no life. Most scientists believe that life does NOT exist here, but there are a few that still think life could exist on Mars.

Our next stop is Jupiter. It is the 5th planet from the sun. It is also the biggest planet in our solar system. More than 1,000 Earths could fit inside of Jupiter. Jupiter does have rings, but they are very faint and cannot be seen from Earth. The ring system around Jupiter is probably made of dust particles released from the planets atmosphere. They were discovered in 1979 by Voyager.

Jupiter is made up of gas. In fact they think that, except for the core, the WHOLE planet is nothing but gas!!! Jupiter has 61 moons, 4 of which were discovered and observed by Galileo in 1610. The gravitational pull of all these moons are actually causing Jupiters rotation to slow down VERY slowly.

Jupiter has one VERY distinct feature: The Great Red Spot. This spot is actually a GIGANTIC storm system that is twice the size of the Earth. It is kind of like a hurricane. The average wind speed of this storm is 200 mph, but they can exceed that!

Jupiters rotation is very fast. It completes a rotation in 9.8 hours!! Because the rotation is so fast, it actually bulges at the middle. It completes one revolution every 11.9 years. The average temperature of Jupiter is -153 Celsius.

The next stop on our tour is Saturn. Saturn is the 6th planet in the solar system and second largest. It is another gaseous planet (like Jupiter) and it is surrounded by thousands of rings. Saturn completes one rotation every 10.25 days and one revolution every 29.46 years!

Saturn is located 884,740,000 miles away from Earth. Saturn is a cold planet. Its average temperature is -125 Celsius. Saturn has 31 moons ranging in size from very small to very large.

Here is an interesting little bit of information. Did you know that if you could put Saturn into a GIANT bowl of water, it would actually FLOAT!!!!!!!

Saturn is surrounded by thousands of rings. These rings are very bright and can easily be seen from Earth with a small telescope. These rings appear to be formed of small particles of ice and dust!!

The Cassini probe just reached Saturn in July 2004. Hopefully, it will send back new data and pictures and add to our understanding and knowledge of this beautiful planet.

Our next stop is Uranus. Uranus is the 7th planet from the sun. It is a planet that we know very little about. An atmosphere of thick, blue gas make Uranus appear a very bright blue.

Uranus has 21 moons in orbit. Uranus is very different than every other planet. It actually rotates on its SIDE. Scientists believe that the planet was hit by VERY HUGE objects that caused it to be knocked over.

Uranus complete one orbit every 84 years, and it completes one rotation every 17.3 hours. It is 1,783,487,000 miles away from the sun.

Like Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus has a system of rings. There have been 11 rings found as of today. Scientist believe these rings are made of ice and dust.

Our next stop is Neptune. Neptune is the 8th planet in the solar system. Sometimes it is the 9th planet because once every revolution, Neptunes and Plutos orbit cross paths.

Neptune has 8 known moons. Most of these moons are very small and are most likely captured asteroids. It is 2,798,116,000 miles away from the sun. Neptune completes one rotation every 15.8 hours and one revolution every 165 years.

Neptune has a Big Blue Spot. It is thought to be a big storm, but very short lived. Neptune has the fastest winds out of all the planets. These winds can reach up to 1200 miles per hour!! Neptune does have 4 very narrow and faint rings. Scientist believe these rings are made of ice and dust, just like the other planets with rings.

Our next stop is Pluto. Pluto is the last and 9th planet in our solar system. It is also the smallest planet. Because it is so far away, it is very cold. The average temperature is -230 degrees Celsius.

Pluto has one moon that is almost the same size as Pluto. Pluto is 3,673,537,000 miles away from the sun. It takes 6.3 days to complete on rotation and 248 years to complete one orbit. For 20 years of the orbit, it is actually the 8th planet, not the 9th!! Scientists are hoping to one day send a probe to Pluto to do more exploration!

Well, that is about it for the 9 planets. I hope you enjoyed your tour. Information on the planets is always changing. Be sure to keep up to date on it. But, remember, if you look up information on the internet, do so with a parent!!!