AN INTRODUCTION TO
One star, eight planets and a whole lot of space.
4.6 BILLION YEARS IN THE MAKING
OVERVIEW
The Sun and everything that travels around it — planets, moons, asteroids, comets and dust — all held together by gravity.
STAR
1
The Sun, sitting at the centre of it all.
PLANETS
8
Four rocky worlds and four giants.
DWARF PLANETS
5
Officially recognised — including Pluto.
MOONS
400+
Orbiting the planets — and still counting.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
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OUR STAR
A star — a gigantic ball of hot, glowing gas. Its gravity keeps every planet in orbit.
99.8%
of all the mass in the solar system is found in the Sun.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE PLANETS
Sizes are drawn to scale. Distances are not.
REMEMBER THE ORDER
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
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INNER PLANETS
Small, dense worlds made of rock and metal — with solid ground you could stand on.
Smallest, and closest to the Sun.
ONE YEAR
88 days
MOONS
0
Swings from −180°C at night to 430°C by day.
The hottest planet of all.
ONE YEAR
225 days
MOONS
0
Thick clouds trap heat at around 465°C.
The only world known to have life.
ONE YEAR
365 days
MOONS
1
About 71% of its surface is covered by ocean.
The dusty, rusty Red Planet.
ONE YEAR
687 days
MOONS
2
Home to Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano known.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
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OUTER PLANETS
Huge worlds of gas and ice — no solid ground.
Jupiter
GAS GIANT
The largest planet. Its Great Red Spot is a storm bigger than Earth.
95+
MOONS
Saturn
GAS GIANT
Wears bright rings of ice and rock — and is light enough to float in water.
270+
MOONS
Uranus
ICE GIANT
Tipped right over on its side, it rolls around the Sun like a ball.
25+
MOONS
Neptune
ICE GIANT
The windiest planet, with storms over 2,000 km/h.
16
MOONS
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A SENSE OF SCALE
THE SUN
109×
wider than Earth
Earth, Jupiter and the Sun — all drawn to the same scale.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
DISTANCES
Neptune is 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth is.
150 million km
= 1 AU (astronomical unit), the distance from Earth to the Sun.
4 hours
for sunlight to travel all the way out to Neptune.
9½ years
for the New Horizons spacecraft to fly from Earth to Pluto.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
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BEYOND NEPTUNE
The Kuiper Belt
A wide ring of icy worlds just past Neptune, about 30–50 AU from the Sun.
Pluto
Called a dwarf planet since 2006. New Horizons flew past in 2015 and spotted a giant heart-shaped glacier.
The Oort Cloud
A huge, distant shell of icy objects surrounding everything — where many comets come from.
DIAGRAM NOT TO SCALE
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QUICK QUIZ
Talk it through with a partner, then share with the class.
01
Which planet is closest to the Sun?
Hint: look back at the planet lineup.
02
Why is Venus hotter than Mercury, even though it's farther from the Sun?
Hint: think about its clouds.
03
What's the difference between a gas giant and an ice giant?
Hint: name one of each.
04
How long does sunlight take to reach Earth?
Hint: less time than a lunch break.
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