The Solar System
The planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits because the Sun is the largest object in the solar system and has the most gravity.
The farther away a planet is, the longer it takes for it to travel around the Sun. So Neptune’s year is much longer than Mercury’s.
Some planets have moons that orbit them. The moons orbit the planets because the planets are larger and have more gravity, like the Earth and our moon.
Gravity affects the weight of objects. The more mass of a planet, the more gravity it has, so objects would weigh more on a bigger planet. Your weight on Jupiter would be much greater that your weight on Mercury.
The Planets:
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Ignore poor Pluto...it is no longer classified as a planet. (Look below to see why.)
Videos
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Interactives
Google Earth
Study Jams-Inner Planets
More InteractivesGames |
Your Age on Other Worlds
Challenging!
Study Jams-Outer Planets
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