THE PLANETS AND MOONS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD Some are hotter than an oven and some are much colder than a freezer Some are small and rocky while others are huge and mostly made of gas As you explore these worlds you'll discover giant canyons active volcanoes strange kinds of ice storms bigger than Earth and much more The Planetary SocietyⓇ empowers people around the world to advance space science and exploration On behalf of The Planetary Society® including our tens of thousands of members here's wishing you the joy of discovery Onward BillNye Bill Nye CEO The Planetary SocietyⓇ
4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Our Home Planet CHAPTER 2 Living Earth CHAPTER 3 Exploring Earth 12 18 Glossary Index 30 31
4 CHAPTER 1 OUR HOME PLANET Earth is our home planet It is where you are right now It has wide oceans big stretches of land and clouds in the sky It has freezing ice and burning lava It is the third planet from the Sun. And it is the only place we know of that has life Astronauts in space can see huge clouds move across Earth
5 Distances in space are measured using astronomical units AU One AU is equal to the average distance between Earth and the Sun which is about 93 million miles 150 million km EARTH FAST FACTS Size 7,900 miles 12,714 km wide Distance from the Sun about 93 million miles 150 million km Length of day twenty-four hours Length of year 365.25 days Number of moons one
