solar system websites for elementary students

Its liquid hydrosphere (oceans and seas) is unique among the terrestrial planets.Įarth's atmosphere is radically different from those of the other planets, having been altered by the presence of life so it now contains 21% oxygen - which humans need to be able to breathe! It is the only planet known to have life.

Venus is 108,000,000 km away from the sun.Įarth is the largest and densest of the four inner planets, the only one known to have current geological activity, like earthquakes and volcanoes. Venus is named after the Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty. This is thought to be because of the amount of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere. It is the hottest planet in the solar system, with surface temperatures over 400 ☌. Venus is probably the planet that is most similar to Earth in many ways, although it is much drier than Earth and its atmosphere is ninety times as dense. It has a substantial atmosphere and evidence of internal geological activity.

Venus is a very similar size to the Earth, and like Earth, is made of a thick silicate mantle around an iron core. Mercury is 57,900,000 km away from the sun.

The picture on the left is a picture of Mercury that was taken by Messenger in 2008, and transmitted back to earth for scientists to study. The unmanned Messenger proble was launched by NASA in 2004 and will begin to orbit Mercury in 2011 after several flybys. Mercury has been visited by two unmanned NASA space probes, Mariner 10 and Messenger. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and the smallest planet of the solar system. The Solar System is made up of the Sun and the celestial objects that are bound to it by its gravity: the eight planets and five dwarf planets, their 173 known moons, and billions of small bodies, such as asteroids, icy kuiper belt objects, comets, meteoroids, and interplanetary dust.Īlthough the farthest planet is over four billion kilometers away from the earth, all eight planets can be seen in the night sky, using a telescope or binoculars - as long as you know where to look! If you have any queries or think something is missing, please email us at you would like to visit our online shop, please visit What is the solar system? Find out about the planets that are earth's neighbours! As specialist retailers of space toys, space dressing up and other fun space stuff, we love everything about space exploration. Learn about the solar system, the planets that circle the sun. A children's guide to the planets of the solar system, ideal research for space projects or homework!

Solar system websites for elementary students