The document provides an overview of the planets and other objects in our solar system. It describes the key characteristics of each planet from Mercury to Neptune, as well as Pluto, Eris, the asteroid belt, and moons. Key facts include that the Sun is over 5 billion years old and will expand into a red giant, Mercury has extreme temperature variations, Venus has the longest day, and Earth is the only known planet capable of supporting life.

1. The solar system. The asteroid belt. The Sun. Mercury. Venus. Earth. Mars. Jupiter. Saturn. Uranus. Neptune. Pluto. Eris.

2. The Sun. The sun is a massive ball of gas 1,000,000 times bigger than the Earth. It is aged 6,000,000,000 years old, and in 5,000,000,000 years time it will expand into a red giant and destroy the solar system. it is made of gases like helium and is over 8,000 degrees Celsius at the centre.

3. Mercury. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, meaning it’s orbit only takes 88 days. At day it’s over 500 degrees Celsius and at night it’s less than -400 degrees Celsius. Mercury is named after the roman messenger god.

4. Venus. A day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days, that’s longer than a year on Venus which lasts a mere 225 days. It is the hottest planet in the solar system at over 400 degrees Celsius at day and at night still over 400 degrees Celsius . Venus is named after the roman god of love and beauty.

5. Earth. Earth is our home planet. It is the only planet which we know has life. It has 1 moon.

6. Mars. Mars is the only planet (other than Earth) which people think once had water. It is home to Olympus Mons the tallest mountain in the solar system at over 3 times the size of mount Everest. Mars is also called the “red planet” and looks red because of rust.

7. The asteroid belt. Ceres is a dwarf planet which is actually inside the Asteroid belt. The size of the asteroids in the belt range between 490km (Ceres) and the size of a dust particle. The asteroid belt first started to form 5,000,000,000 years ago.

8. Jupiter. Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system even the largest of it’s 63 moons, Titan is huge, it’s as big as a planet! The great red spot is a famous aspect of Jupiter because a storm 3 times bigger than the Earth and was first discovered about 300 years ago. it is a “gas giant planet and is named after the king roman god.

9. Saturn. Saturn is famous for it’s massive rings which are made of rock and ice. Ganymede one of Saturn’s moons, it has ice-canoes which shoot water instead of lava, which as soon as they leave the atmosphere turn to ice so Ganymede actually makes Saturn’s rings. Saturn is named after the roman god of farming.

10. Uranus. Like Saturn Uranus has rings which orbit around it. Uranus has clouds made of water and methane. Like Neptune Uranus is extremely icy and cold.

11. Neptune. Like Jupiter’s great red spot Neptune has a spot, only it’s the “great dark spot.” Neptune is 15 times bigger than the Earth. Neptune is named after the roman god of the sea.

12. Pluto. Pluto, like Eris and Ceres is a dwarf planet and as a result the moon is 5 times larger than Pluto. Pluto has 4 moons including Charon, Nix and Hydra. Pluto was named after the Greek god of the sea.

13. Eris. Eris and it’s only moon Dysnomia were first discovered in 2005 and Eris was only named in 2006. Eris is the biggest dwarf planet to be discovered but right now experts are not sure which is bigger, Pluto or Eris. Eris is named after the Greek goddess of chaos and discord.

14. Moons. Planets orbit around the sun and moons orbit around planets, the time it takes to orbit around a planet is called a lunar year, our lunar year is about 28 days. There are over 130 moons in the solar system altogether. Moons can be huge, even bigger than dwarf planets! In fact the solar system’s biggest moon, Titan, is bigger than Mercury!