We are studying planets!!

Here is a cool link to learn about planets:

Welcome to the Planets

the-solar-system

kids astronomy

• If you weigh 70 pounds on Earth, you will weigh 27 pounds on Mercury.
• Because Mercury is so close to the sun a visitor could easily cook to death.
• However, because Mercury spins so slowly it gets very cold in the nighttime which means a visitor could also freeze to death!
• Mercury looks alot like our moon.
• Mercury has no moons.

• Venus is Earth's nearest neighbor.
• The two are often called planetary twins because they have so many similiarities.
• Venus's clouds are like glass in a greenhouse, heat can get in, but it can't get out.
• Venus is a hostile planet.
• Venus has the hottest average temperature of any of the planets.
• Venus has no moons

• Earth is an oasis of life in an otherwise desolate universe.
• Earth's temperature, atmosphere and many other other factors are just right to keep us alive.
• Without the many powerful forces going on inside the earth, the surface would look much like the moon.
• The earth is approximately 4,000 miles from surface to center.
  

• Mars excites scientists because its mild temprement is more like Earth's than any other planet.
• Mars used to have rivers, lakes, streams and even an ocean.
• As Mars atmosphere slowly depleted into outer space the surface water permenantly evaporated.
• Mars has two moons.

• Jupiter is eleven times bigger than the earth.
• It takes nearly twelve years to complete its orbit.
• A day on Jupiter is a little less than ten hours long.
• Jupiter spins more rapidly than any other planet.
• Because Jupiter's gravitational pull is so strong an object would weigh more on Jupiter than it would on earth.
• Scientists have discovered a faint slender ring around Jupiter.

• Saturn has 41 moons.
• The planet Saturn was first viewed through a telescope in 1610.
• Saturn is the most dazzling planet in the solar system. It's called the queen of planets.
• Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and is the second largest planet.
• Saturn is flattened at the poles due to its fast rotation on its axis.

• The discovery of Uranus through a telescope marked the beginning of a new age in astronomy.
• Uranus rotates nearly on its side.
• Our scientists unlocked many of the secrets of Uranus by analyzing Voyagers information.
• Uranus is made of  a swail of gas, liquids and solids.
• Uranus takes 17.25 hours to spin around.
• Uranus's cloud surface moves as fast as 374 miles per hour.

• It takes 165 years to go around the sun.
• Neptune has six moons.
• Neptune has eight rings.
• Neptune's core is ice and rock.
• Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun.
• They found a rock like fish living there.

• Scientists have decided that Pluto is not actually a planet.
• A year on Pluto is equal to 248 Earth years.
• Pluto can sometimes be closer to the sun than Neptune.
• Pluto takes a little more than six days and nine hours to spin once on its axis.
• Pluto tilts on its axis at a 58 degree angle, which is about two and a half times the tilt of the Earth.