8. The sun is enormous compared to the Earth. It is 1.3 million times
the size of our planet! The sun creates a lot of gravity because it is so
big. Gravity is a force that brings things together. The sun is the
largest thing in our solar system, so its gravity brings all the planets
together. The sun’s gravity holds all eight planets in their orbits as
they circle around it.
Energy and light from the sun travel to us. This is a very long
journey. The sun is the closest star to the Earth, but it’s still 93
million miles away! Luckily, light is very speedy. Even though light
moves very fast, it takes light from the sun around eight minutes to
reach us here on Earth.
Which of the following is the biggest?
a. the sun
b. the earth
c. the moon
d. the planet Jupiter
9. Everything in the solar system is
under the direct influence of the Sun’s
gravitational pull.
10. The sun is orbited by eight planets, at least five
dwarf planets, tens of thousands of asteroids, and
hundreds of thousands to three trillion comets and
icy bodies.