THE SOLAR SYSTEM – PART 4   

                              By Aarushi Sanghai

This is the final instalment of our series on the Solar System, I am going to tell you about the remaining planets.

                                       JUPITER

Jupiter is a giant ball of liquid and gases. Jupiter is by far the biggest planet. It is 10 times bigger than the Earth. Jupiter is not made of rocks like the other planets. It is made of gases (mainly hydrogen and helium) like the sun, but it never grew big enough to become a star itself. It has 16 moons and a faint ring.  

                                    SATURN

Saturn is surrounded by beautiful rings made of chinks of rocks and ice. It is the second largest planet in the solar system. Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant. It is mainly made up for 2 gases called hydrogen and helium. Saturn’s 17 moons are freezing cold worlds. The largest of them – Titan – is the only one with an atmosphere.

                   URANUS, NEPTUNE AND PLUTO

The planets that are farthest from the sun are Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Uranus and Neptune are almost the same size – about 64 times the size of the Earth. Both have thick atmospheres, rocky cores and faint rings. Pluto is much smaller than the earth. It is like a small ball of icy rock. Uranus is tipped on its side. Uranus has 17 moons. Neptune has 8 moons and Pluto has only 1 moon.

So that’s the solar system ! Hope you enjoyed reading about it. I will continue with more interesting facts next week !

                          THE SOLAR SYSTEM – PART 3

                                 By Aarushi Sanghai

Today, in the third part of our series on the Solar System, I am going to tell you about 2 more planets, and about the moon.

                                    THE EARTH

THE Earth is our home planet. It is exactly the distance from the sun to receive just the right amount of light and heat. There is air to breathe, and plenty of water to drink. There are many many plants and animals. Earth is the only planet where we know for sure that life exists.

                                    THE MOON

The moon is our closest neighbour in space. It looks bright because it reflects light from the sun. Every day the moon changes shape. This is because, as it travels around the earth, different parts of the moon are lit up by the sun’s light. The moon has no air or life, and its surface is covered with craters.

                                      MARS

Mars is a red, dusty, cold and rocky planet. Mars has seasons like Earth, but it is much colder as Mars is further from the sun. The surface of Mars is covered with craters and volcanoes. Mars has two moons.

Next week, in the final instalment of this series, I will tell you about the remaining planets in the solar system. See you then !  

                        THE SOLAR SYSTEM – PART 2

                                By Aarushi Sanghai

                                    THE SUN

The sun is a fiery hot star. It looks bigger and brighter than any other star because it is so much closer to us. When the sun rises each day, the sky fills with light and all the tiny twinkling stars seem to disappear from view until the sun goes down again. Without the sun’s light and warmth, our solar system would be a dark, cold place, and there would be no life on earth.

                                    MERCURY

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It moves around the sun very fast, so it is not pulled towards the sun by the sun’s gravity. It is the smallest planet, not much bigger than the moon. It has no atmosphere of gases, so it has very extreme temperatures. Its surface is bare and rocky and covered with craters.

                                    VENUS

Venus is a baking hot planet. It is the second planet from the sun, and, except for the moon, it is our closest neighbour in space. After the sun and moon it is the brightest planet. Venus and Earth are almost the same size. Its surface is boiling hot and its atmosphere is thick and poisonous. Venus’s atmosphere blocks out blue light. Therefore, if you were standing on Venus, the sky would look red.

Next week I will tell you about the Earth, the Moon and Mars. Watch this space !

                  THE SOLAR SYSTEM

                    By Aarushi Sanghai

Our solar system is a part of the Milky Way. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way because it looks like a white band across the night sky in space. Our solar system consists of the sun and its family of planets. It also includes the moons and millions of pieces of rocks called meteoroids and asteroids and frozen lumps of dust and gases called comets. Every single star is itself a sun, and each may have its own family of planets and moons.

Here is a poem on the solar system:

9 children of the sun,

Planets they are called.

They form the solar system,

Moons and stars and all.

Mercury is the hottest one,

Venus has shining stars,

Earth is the planet we live on,

The 4^th one is called Mars.

Jupiter has 16 moons,

Saturn has a ring,

Uranus and Neptune are next in line,

Pluto last, poor thing.

Did you like that?

Each week I am going to tell you about a few of the planets in our solar system. Next week I am going to begin with the sun, Mercury and Venus

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                                           MERCURY

                            By Shreya Parikh

Diameter: 4,878 km

Revolution time: 87.97 days

Surface temperature: +427 degrees C

It is the only planet in the solar system which has no moons. Mercury is  closest to the sun and is the smallest of the inner planets. Its surface is extraordinarily hot. Mercury’s surface is covered with craters. It rotates on its axis once every 59 days. It is named after the messenger of the Roman gods. Mercury was his name.

It is nearly 36 million miles from the sun. Greek astronomers called these heavenly bodies “planets” which means wanderers.

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                                           THE SUN

                                    By Shreya Parikh

The sun is in the centre of our solar system. It is a star that seems very big to the Earth, but looks very small compared to the other giant stars farther out in the universe. It rotates on its axis just like the Earth.

The sun is made up of heated gases and it releases heat and light energy. The part of the sun which we see is called the PHOTOSPHERE.

The CHROMOSPHERE is the coloured ring of gases surrounding the sun.

Solar flares often shoot out from the sun’s surface for thousands of miles.

The sun’s harmful rays called ultra-violet rays can cause skin cancer. But these are blocked by the ozone layer. The ozone layer is a form of Oxygen which is situated in the upper atmosphere.

The sun is 4.6 billion years old. Its diameter is approx. 1,391,785 km. The surface temperature of the sun is about 6,000 degrees C.

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