WHAT IS A PLANET The word planet comes from the Greek word planetes which means wanderer Planets are large natural objects that orbit or travel around stars Eight planets orbit the star called the Sun In order from the closest to Sun 865 000 mi 1 392 000 km Jupiter 89 000 mi 143 000 km Saturn 74 900 mi 120 600 km Neptune 31 000 mi 50 000 km Venus Mars 7 500 mi 4 200 mi 12 100 km 6 800 km 3 Mercury Earth 3 000 mi7 940 mi 4 900 km 12 780 km Uranus 32 000 mi 51 000 km Sizes given are the approximate diameter of each body A The eight planets in the solar system have very different
the Sun these planets are Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus and Neptune The solar system is the collection of the Sun and the objects that orbit around it including the eight planets Planets differ from other objects such as comets asteroids and meteors In general planets are the largest objects in the solar system after the Sun Most of them orbit the Sun in a path shaped nearly like a circle Many also have a layer of gas surrounding them Most of the planets have at least one moon Jupiter has more than 60 moons CoMPARE AND CONTRAST There are different objects orbiting the Sun Compare and contrast planets comets and meteors lo a moon of Jupiter has an active volcano like ones on
TYPES OF PLANETS There are two main types of planets in the solar system The four planets nearest the Sun Mercury Venus Earth and Mars are called inner planets They are also called the Earth like planets The inner planets are rocky and about the size of Earth or somewhat Earth is the only planet in the solar system known to have liquid water on its
smaller They each have solid surfaces None of these planets has rings and only Earth and Mars have moons Jupiter Saturn Uranus and Neptune are called gas giants They are made up mostly of gases and have no solid surfaces They are all much larger than Earth Each of the four has a large LA atmosphere or surrounding r layer of gases Also the Saturn's unique rings gas giants each have many are mostly made of ice moons and a system of rings and dust Saturn s rings are the largest and best known An atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding a
