“Many astronomers believe that Mercury might be the core of what was once a much larger planet -- it appears to be a huge ball of iron covered by a thin layer of rock.”

“Venus is the brightest     planet in our sky and can sometimes be seen with the naked eye if you know     where to look.’’

“Earth has more exposed water than land.’’                                                                     

“Mars is the home of "Olympus Mons", the largest volcano found in the solar system.”                                                                                                                        

“Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, but it spins very quickly on its axis.”  

“Saturn is the second biggest planet, but it’s also the lightest planet.”

 
“Uranus’ axis is at a 97 degree angle, meaning that it orbits lying on its side!”

“In 2011 it finally made it's first lap around the sun since we discovered it -- because one Neptune year lasts 165 Earth years!”

Further information and fun facts can be found at the kidzone website http://kidzone.ws/planets/

 Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and due to its proximity it is not easily seen except during twilight. For every two orbits of the Sun, Mercury completes three rotations about its axis and up until 1965 it was thought that the same side of Mercury constantly faced the Sun. Thirteen times a century Mercury can be observed from the Earth passing across the face of the Sun in an event called a transit, the next will occur on the 9th May 2016.

 Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is the second brightest object in the night sky after the Moon. Named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus is the second largest terrestrial planet and is sometimes referred to as the Earth's sister planet due the their similar size and mass.

 Earth is the third planet from the Sun and is the largest of the terrestrial planets. The Earth is the only planet in our solar system not to be named after a Greek or Roman deity. The Earth was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago and is the only known planet to support life.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is the second smallest planet in the solar system. Named after the Roman god of war, Mars is also often described as the “Red Planet” due to its reddish appearance. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere composed primarily of carbon dioxide.

The asteroid belt is the circumstellar disc in the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids.

The planet Jupiter is the fifth planet out from the Sun, and is two and a half times more massive than all the other planets in the solar system combined. It is made primarily of gases and is therefore known as a “gas giant”.

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. While being visible to the naked eye, it was not recognised as a planet due to its dimness and slow orbit. Uranus became the first planet discovered with the use of a telescope. Uranus is tipped over on its side with an axial tilt of 98 degrees. 

Neptune Facts. Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun making it the most distant in the solar system. This gas giant planet may have formed much closer to the Sun in early solar system history before migrating to its present position.