Planets - facts 12

Planets are in orbit around their star.

Planetary rings

Planetary rings are rings around a planet. They are made up of cosmic dust and other particles.

Moon - facts 7

Moons are also called satellites.

Mars - facts 11

The names of the two moons that orbit Mars are Phobos and Deimos.

Mars - facts 10

Mars is approximately half the size of Earth.

Earth - facts 10

Earth's diameter is not much larger than that of Venus.

Mercury - facts 3

Mercury is named after the messenger of the Roman gods.

Mercury - facts 2

If you were standing on Mercury, the Sun would be approximately three times as larger in the sky compared to viewing the Sun on Earth.

Sun - facts 10

Sunspots are darker areas on the Sun with stronger magnetic fields that are cooler than the surrounding area.

Asteroid belt

The Asteroid belt is a region in space between Mars and Jupiter where many asteroids are found.

Kuiper belt

The Kuiper belt is an area beyond the orbit of Neptune that contains large and many small icy celestal bodies left from the formation of the Solar System. The Kuiper belt is before the Oort cloud and is much larger than the asteroid belt.

Oort cloud

The Oort cloud is a giant area surrounding the outer Solar System that contains many comets. The Oort cloud is beyond the Kuiper belt.

Solar wind

The solar wind is a stream of gas ejected from the Sun.

Heliosphere

The heliosphere is a bubble in space caused by the Sun's solar wind. It extends past the furthest planets in the Solar System.

Astronomical unit

An astronomical unit (AU) is the distance from the Earth to the Sun. One AU is approximately 93 million miles.

Universe - trivia 5

1) What is the Universe mostly made up of?

a) dark matter
b) dark energy
c) stars

Check comments for the answer.

Mars - facts 9

Mars has the tallest known volcano and mountain in the Solar System.

Jupiter - facts 7

The Great Red Spot rotates counterclockwise.

Jupiter - facts 6

The Great Red Spot on Jupiter can be seen from Earth based telescopes.