The Sun

The sun is a large ball of glowing gases.

Hydrogen is the main gas that forms the
sun. The temperature of the sun's surface is
about 10,000ºF (5,538ºC). The sun is a star.
It provides heat and light. It is the largest
object in the solar system. The sun is not a
solid. It's the nearest star to Earth. Never
look straight into the sun. It is so bright that
it can damage your eyes. About 1.5 billion
Earths could fit inside the sun! The surface
of the sun is more than 50 times hotter than
boiling water!
 Venus

Venus is the second planet from the sun. It is

only slightly smaller than Earth and Venus has
volcanoes. Did you know that the surface of
Venus is very smooth and it is actually the
hottest planet – even though Mercury should
be?! Venus is hotter because it has a very thick
atmosphere. An atmosphere is a layer of gases
surrounding a planet or moon, and it stops heat
from escaping. It is always cloudy on Venus.
The clouds on Venus are not made from water.
They are made from acid. Acid is a substance
that can react with a base to make salt.
Sometimes, Venus passes between the sun and
Earth. This is called a transit. You can actually
see it from Earth and it looks like a small dot,
crossing the sun!
 Saturn

Saturn is the 5th planet from the sun and one of

four gas giants. It is so gigantic that it could fit
about 764 Earths inside it. It is the second
largest planet in the solar system (Jupiter is first
largest). You can't stand on Saturn because it is
mostly made of gas. The reason Saturn has
rings is because the moon lightly smashed into
Saturn and that started to form rings. It has 7
groups of rings. 4 of them are bigger than the
other 3. Each ring has a gap between them.
The rings are mostly made of bits of ice. All
gas giants have rings. Did you know that
Saturn's north pole is the shape of an almost
perfect hexagon? Saturn has 62 moons. Fun
fact: Saturn's biggest moon -Dionne- is bigger
than Saturn itself!
 Uranus

Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun. It

receives very little light because it is so far
away from the sun. The surface Uranus is about
-315ºF (-193ºC), and it has more mass than
Earth. It is also mostly made of gas. That is
why it is called a gas giant. Far below the
surface, Uranus has a very hot ocean. It has a
temperature of 12,000ºF (6,650ºC). Uranus has
3 layers. A gas layer, a water layer and a rocky
core. Some scientists estimate that Uranus's
core is about 2,480 miles (4,000 km) across. A
year on Uranus is about 30,660 Earth days – or
84 Earth years – long.
 Neptune

Neptune is the eighth planet and the furthest

planet from the sun, not counting Pluto, since it
is not a planet. It is a gas giant and has the
fastest wind speed of any planet. It takes 150
Earth years for Neptune to circle around the
sun (or for Neptune to have a full year). It is the
4th largest planet in the solar system. 58 Earths
could fit inside Neptune, and it is made of
different gases. One gas, called methane, gives
Neptune it's blue colour. Neptune has very thin
rings. They are faint too, so Neptune has to be
blocked out for scientists to see them. Triton is
Neptune's largest moon. Triton has volcanoes
that shoot out dust, gas and water 5 miles (8
km) high! Then, they freeze and fall onto Triton
like snow!
 Planet Glossary

Acid: a substance that can react with a base to

make salt
Atmosphere: a layer of gases surrounding a
planet or moon that stops heat from escaping
Core: the center of an object or planet
Gas giants: a planet that is mostly made of gas
(e.g. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)
Hydrogen: the main gas that forms the sun
Mass: how heavy an object or planet is
Methane: a gas that gives Neptune it's blue
colour
Star: a ball of super heated gas