1. The Solar System has Eight Planets
The Solar System is all the planets and other things in space that orbit (go around) our sun .
This includes the planets Earth, Mecury,Venus, Mars, Jupiter ,Saturn, Uranus and Neptune as well as the dwarf planet Pluto, asteroids and comets.
2. Earth is only a very small part of The Solar System
Earth is a big place but within the solar system it is quite small. It would take 1.3 million planets the size of Earth to fill up the sun. Earth is a lot smaller than planets like Jupiter and Saturn.
3. The Solar System formed 4.6 Billion years ago
The Solar System was formed 4.6 billion years ago from a cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula. A shock wave from a nearby supernova (big star) explosion probably started it. The Sun formed in the center, and the planets formed around it.
4. The Solar System is part of The Milky Way
he solar system is part of the Milky Way, There are at least between 250 to 500 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy – there might even be more. That’s at least 30 times more stars in The Milky Way than there are people on Earth.
There are over 700 known systems of planets orbiting stars.
5. The Sun is 93 million miles from the Earth
7. Planets in our Solar System are different temperatures
The hottest planet is Venus with an average temperature of 460°C and the coldest planet is Uranus with an average temperature -220°C. By comparison Earth’s average temperature is 15°C.
8. There are 181 moons in The Solar System
Scientists are always discovering more moons in The Solar System and arguing over whether Saturn or Jupiter have more moons. Currently Jupiter and Saturn both have 53 confirmed moons but they also both have more than 30 moons NASA haven’t confirmed.
There is also 552,894 asteroids and 3,083 comets in The Solar System!
9. Neptune was the last planet to be discovered in The Solar System
