By Simon Naylor

1. The Solar System By Simon Naylor

2. The Sun • The Sun is in the centre of the solar system and all the other planets rotate around it. It is made from burning gas which will eventually go out. The Sun is approximately 4.5 billion years old and is still burning today.

3. Mercury • Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. It takes Mercury just over 87 days to orbit the Sun. The planet is often hard to see from Earth without a telescope. A normal day on Mercury lasts 176 Earth days. The surface of Mercury is much similar to the Moons.

4. Venus • Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224 Earth days. The planet is named after a Roman goddess called Venus. It is known as the Earth’s twin because there similar in size. Venus is 67 million miles away from the Sun.

5. Earth • Earth is the only known planet that has a living creatures on it. Well that’s what we think anyway. The Earth is the third closest planet to the Sun. Did you know that 71% of the Earths surface is covered in water. The Earth is the fifth largest planet out of 9 other planets.

6. Mars • Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is about 4.6 billion years old. Its known as the red planet because the rocks are a rust colour. Mars is about 14 million miles away from the Sun. It takes Mars about 687 days to orbit the Sun. Mars has volcanoes on its surface like Earth.

7. Jupiter • Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and is about 11 times bigger than the Earth. Jupiter is made up of gas just like the Sun and has very little solid surface. Jupiter does one complete orbit of the Sun in 12 years. It is the fifth planet from the Sun and is about 483 million miles away from the Sun.

8. Saturn • Saturn is the second largest planet and has seven flat rings around it which is made up of tiny ice particles. The distance from the sun is about 941 million miles away from the Sun. It takes Saturn just over 10 hours to do a complete turn.

9. Uranus • Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and is 1 billion miles away from it. It is the farthest planet that you can see without using a telescope and it takes 84 years to orbit the Sun. The temperature in the clouds is about -355 degrees

10. Neptune • Neptune is one of 2 planets which can only be seen through a telescope. The distance from the Sun is 2 billion miles and does a complete orbit of the sun in every 165 years. Neptune has got a 700 miles per hour wind speed. Neptune is the 8th planet from the Sun.

11. Pluto • Pluto is the 9th planet from the sun and is 3 billion miles away from the Sun. Pluto was striped of its planet rank and is now a dwarf planet. The temperature on Pluto is -375 degrees. It takes Pluto 6 days to do a complete turn. Pluto is thought to be one of the coldest planets in this solar system.

12. Comet’s • Most comets travel around the Sun and most comets are to small to be seen without a telescope. When they come near to the Sun they become visible. They believe that most comets were made over 4 billion years ago.

13. Meteors • Meteors are often called shooting stars or falling stars because they look like there falling out of the sky. Billions of years ago a meteor hit earth wiping out the entire dinosaur race. Every year there is a meteor shower were the sky fills with tiny sparks whizzing about.

14. Thank you for watching • This was a presentation by Simon Naylor