The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago around the Sun. It contains 8 planets and 5 dwarf planets. The planets in order from the Sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The Sun contains over 99% of the mass of the entire Solar System. Each planet has unique characteristics such as temperature, size, and composition.

1. THE SOLAR SYSTEM
BY LILY HICKS

2. • The Solar System was formed around 4.6 Billion years ago
It's made up of the Sun and all objects around it, due to it's gravity
There are 8 planets within the Solar System: Mercury, Venus, Earth,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune
As of 2008, there are 5 Dwarf planets as well: Pluto, Ceres, Eris,
Makemake & Haumea
The Sun contains 99.86% of the Solar System's entire mass

3. SUN
• The Sun is a Star located at the center
of the Solar System
• The Sun's power is about 386 billion
billion mega watts
• It is produced by nuclear fusion
reactions
• It is 865,000 miles wide or 110 times
wider than the Earth
• The surface temperature is 9941° F
• Light from the Sun reaches the Earth in
8 minutes

4. MERCURY
• The surface is very similar to the
Earth's moon
• It has a rocky surface with many
craters
• Closest planet to the sun
• Daytime temperature reaches 752° F
• Nighttime temperature is as low as
292° F because there is no
atmosphere

5. VENUS
• Venus is slightly smaller than the
Earth
• It is the 2nd closest planet to the Sun
• The atmosphere is made up of
mostly Carbon Dioxide
• It has gravity similar to Earth
• The surface is similar to molten lead
• There is no water on the surface

6. EARTH
• The Earth is the 3rd closest planet to the Sun
• Mt Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth at
29,029'
• The world's largest desert is the Sahara Desert
which covers 1/3 of Africa
• The Earth is NOT perfectly round. It is slightly
flattened at the South and North Poles
• The Earth is between 4-5 Billion years old
• The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest
living structure in the world
• Rock at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is about
2 Billion years old

7. MARS
• Mars is known as the "Red Planet"
because it is covered with rust like dust
• It is the 4th closest planet to the Sun
• It is the 2nd smallest planet in the
Solar System
• Distance to the Earth is
140,000,000(million) miles
• Mars has many massive volcanoes
including Olympus Mons which is the
largest volcano in our Solar System

8. JUPITER
• It is the 5th closest planet to the Sun
• Largest planet in the Solar System
• It's mass is 1/1000 of the Sun, but 2-1/2
times that of all of the other planets our
Solar System combined
• 1300 Earths could fit inside of Jupiter
• Jupiter has many storms on it's surface
including the "big red spot" which is the
world's largest hurricane in our Solar
System and it's been raging for over
300 years

9. SATURN
• Saturn is the 2nd largest planet in our
Solar System
• It is the 6th planet from the Sun
• It is surrounded by a system of rings
which extend out into space for
thousands of miles
• The rings are made up of ice crystals
which can be as large as a house or as
small as a spec of dust
• Saturn has many moons surrounding
it, similar to Jupiter

10. URANUS
• It's the 7th planet from the Sun
• It is the 3rd largest planet
• It has blue / green color because of
it's high levels of methane gas
• Uranus was the 1st planet
discovered by telescope
• It takes 84 years to travel around the
Sun

11. NEPTUNE
• Neptune is the 8th and furthest planet
away from the Sun in our Solar System
• It is 4 times the size of the Earth
• It is the windiest planet of the Solar
System
• It is a water planet with a blue hydrogen
methane atmosphere
• It also has thin white clouds stretching
around the planet
• It has the most violent weather in our
Solar System

12. PLUTO
• As of 2006, Pluto is now known as a
Dwarf Planet
• Prior to this, it was the smallest and
furthest planet away from the Sun
• Because it is so far away from the
Sun, it's temperature ranges from -
391°F to -346°F
• It consists of rock with a very thick
coating of ice