The Planets y MERCURY MOVES Mercury moves like

The Planets y

MERCURY MOVES Mercury moves like a comet back and forth between Earth and the sun. If Mercury didn’t move at the speed of light, Earth would fall out of orbit into the Sun. Mercury balances the Sun’s gravity! ONE ANCIENT PLANET Mercury is hard to see from planet Earth. It is so close to the Sun’s light it sometimes can block the light! You can only view Mercury just after sunset and just before sunrise. Mercury is definitely hard to spot!

The Second Planet Venus is a nasty planet. It has many volcanoes. 430 large volcanoes each 12 miles wide or larger, and tens of thousands smaller. More then 80 percent of Venus is covered in lava flows. Much of the volcanic activity on Venus seems to have taken place about 500 million years ago. Some people complain that we shouldn’t waste our time studying other worlds… But I think it is very interesting and that we should continue our research on the planets!

Earth • made of nickel iron • 1 orbit of sun = 365. 3 days • 1 rotation of sun = 23 hours 56 minutes • Mass = 6, 000, 000, 000 kg • Volume = 1, 097, 509, 500, 000, 000 kg • escape velocity = 15, 449 (9, 600 mph)

• Distance from sun = 15, 000 kilometers (93, 000 miles) • Average temperature = 72ºC (45ºF)

Mars • Mars is like a polar ice cap. • The moons’ names are Phobos and Deimos. • The middle of Mars is made of nickel iron. • Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. • Mars has at lest 2 moons.

Jupiter • Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system. • Jupiter has at least sixteen moons. • Four moons names are Lo, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto • The spot of Jupiter is two times the size of Erath • The spot on Jupiter might be a storm • The middle of Jupiter is made of a rocky core

• Uranus is the seventh planet. It has 15 known moons, or satellites. Ten of those moons were unknown before the Voyager visited the planet. The five previously known moons are named for characters in plays by William Shakespeare. They are Oberon, Titania, Umbriel, Ariel, and Miranda.

Saturn’s rings are made out of billions of pieces of ice, dust, and rocks. Some of these particles are as small as grains of salt, while others are as big as houses. These chunks of rock and ice are thought to be pieces of comets, asteroids, or even moons which were torn apart by the strong gravity of Saturn before they could reach the planet.

• In Roman mythology Neptune was the god of the Sea. Neptune has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2 on August 25 1989. Much that we know about Neptune comes from the single encounter.

Pluto • Has a rocky icy core • Pluto’s year is 90, 465 days • 1 rotation is 6 days 9 hours • Mass =. 02% of earth • Escape velocity = 15, 449, (9, 600 mph) • Distance from sun = 5, 869 million kilometers (3, 647 million miles) • Average temperature is -234ºC (-390ºF)

• What are Saturn’s ring made out of ? • Saturn’s rings are made out of ice, rocks, and dust.

. • When was mercury discovered, who discovered it? • No one knows when mercury was discovered, or who discovered it, but no one should be unappreciative, because without it we wouldn’t be here today.

• Would we EVER be able to set foot on Venus? • The answer is no. This is because the volcanic gasses and destruction on this planet is so deadly if you set foot on Venus for five minutes you would burn!

• What is the name of the biggest red spot on Jupiter. • The name of the spot is The Great Big Spot. The spot was first seen through a telescope from Earth more than three hundred years ago. The Great Red Spot has changed through the years.

• Did you know that some scientists say that each star in our solar system may be another star or maybe even another GALAXY?

• • • www. yahookids. com www. askkids. com www. astronomyforkids. com Jupiter by Seymour Simon Pluto by Gregory Vogt • Mercury by Gregory Vogt