Where are We in Space?

Our blue planet is one of the eight in the solar system. The number of the planets in our solar system used to be nine, but in 2006 scientists decided that Pluto, the furthest from the Sun, was just too small to be called as a plane.

The Sun lies in the heart of our solar system. It’s one of the billions of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. It isn’t one of the biggest stars around, but it is still 110 times bigger than the Earth. All planets, including ours, orbit the Sun.

Mars, known as ‘the Red Planet’, is smaller and much colder than the Earth. NASA’s Curiosity Mission to the Red Planet made the exciting new discovery that frozen water exists on the planet, which would indicate that there was once life in Mars.

The large planets; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – are gas planets. Neptune is the furthest from the Sun.

The closest planet to the Sun is Mercury. It’s also the smallest planet.

Venus is as big as the Earth and is our closest neighbour, but it’s quite different from ours. It has a thick, poisonous atmosphere and nothing can live there.

The Earth has a diameter of 12, 756 km. It takes approximately 365 days to go around the Sun.

The largest planet is Jupiter. It has got large moons and many other smaller ones. There is a red spot on the planet and it is thought to be a huge storm.