Planets"
Planets are big objects that go around the Sun. Unlike stars, planets do not produce heat and light. They appear to be shining in the sky because they reflect the light of the Sun.
There are 8 planets in our Solar System, namely Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter. Saturn, Uranus and Neptune(arranged according to the distance from the Sun)
Each planet has its own features
- Mercury
Mercury is the nearest planet to the Sun. It a very is hot planet as it is very close to the Sun
-Venus
Venus is the nearest planet to Earth. It is the hottest planet. It is covered by thick, poisonous yellow clouds
-Earth
Earth is the only planet with living organisms. There are air, warmth and water for plants and animals to survive. -Mars
Mars is known as the"red planet" because it is covered with fine reddish soil.
-Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet. It spins very fast, taking less than 10 hours for one spin.
-Saturn
Saturn is the most beautiful planet. It is surrounded by a spectacular set of rings. Each ring is made up of billions of pieces of icy rock.
-Uranus
Uranus is a blue planet with a thin ring. It has a rocky core covered with layers of gases.
-Neptune
Neptune is also a blue planet similar to Uranus. It has a small rocky core covered with thick gases that reflect a bluish light.
Each planet has its own moons except for Mercury and Venus. All the planets together with their moons go around the Sun in their own path called orbits which are ellipses. The powerful gravity of the Sun keeps the planets in order.
The further the planet from the Sun, the bigger its orbit is. Neptune has the biggest orbit and Mercury has the smallest orbit. Therefore, the planets have different length of years for one orbit. One planet's year is the time needed by the planet to make a complete orbit. As each planet orbits the Sun, it also spins like a top. The planet's day is the time it takes to spin around once.
Every planet spins on its axis from west to east except for Venus and Uranus. Venus spins from east to west. The axis on which Uranus spins is tilted right over. Therefore, Uranus spins from top to bottom like a wheel.
From its discovery in 1930 until 2006, Pluto was considered as a planet in our Solar System. In August 2006, Pluto was demoted as it did not fulfil the latest criteria for the new definition of the word "planet".