Our Solar System is one of many

planetary systems. It consists of:

• The Sun

• Eight planets with their natural satellites

• Five dwarf planets

• Billions of asteroids, comets and meteors

• Interplanetary dust cloud

What is the Solar System?

The Sun is a star which is the centre ofthe Solar System. As a result of changes inits core, energy is released which makes life onEarth possible. You can observe sunspots,flares and prominences – huge mass ejections.

Symbol of the Sun

There are 8 planets in our Solar System:

• Mercury

• Venus

• Earth

• Mars

• Jupiter

• Saturn

• Uranus

• Neptune

The smallest and closest to the Sun of the eightplanets. It’s a rocky body like Earth. Its core is richin iron and its surface is similar to that ofthe Moon, with a huge number of craters. It has noknown natural setellites and is volcanically active.

Symbol of Mercury

The second planet from the Sun. It has no natural

satellite and about 80% of its surface is covered by

smooth, volcanic plains. Unlike other planets, Venus

rotates clockwise. After the Sun, it’s the brightest

object in the night sky. It’s also called the Morning

Star or the Evening Star.

Symbol of Venus

Earth

Earth is the only astronomical object inthe universe where life exists. It’s a rocky planetand it has one natural satellite. About 7.3 billionpeople live on Earth together with 1.2 billiondocumented species. Biodiversity of our planet isstill growing.

Symbol of Earth

Mars is similar to Earth in its structure. Observed fromEarth, it has a reddish appearance. It has two smallnatural satellites. On its surface, you can see MountOlympus – probably the tallest montain in the SolarSystem, about three times the height of MountEverest.

Symbol of Mars

Olympus Mons

The biggest and the heaviest planet in the SolarSystem. Being a gas giant, it has no well-definedsolid surface. It has 67 natural satellites andits most recognisable element is the Great RedSpot – a giant storm. Jupiter has a ring systemwhich, unfortunately, isn’t well visible.

Symbol of Jupiter

The sixth planet from the Sun and the secondlargest in the Solar System. Its most characteristicelements are the rings which consist of ice androcky debris. 62 moons orbit Saturn. Titan,Saturn's largest moon, and the second largestin the Solar System, is larger than Mercury.

Symbol of Saturn

A gas planet called ice giant because it has thecoldest atmosphere. It has 27 known naturalsatellites and 13 rings presently known. Windspeeds can reach even 900 km/h. Observationsfrom Earth have shown seasonal change andincreased weather activity.

Symbol of Uranus

The last planet of the Solar System is a gasgiant. It has a planetary ring system which isvery unstable. Its Great Dark Spot is similar toJupiter’s Great Red Spot. It also has the strongestwinds of any planet in the Solar System, withrecorded wind speeds as high as 2,100 km/h .

Symbol of Neptune

In the Solar System, there are 173 known natural satellites.

The Moon – moon of Earth Deimos – moon of Mars

Jupiter’s moons Ganymede and Callisto togetherwith Saturn’s moon Titan are the lagest.

Callisto – moon of Jupiter Titan – moon of Saturn

Io – moon of Jupiter Mimas – moon of Saturn

Ariel – moon of Uranus Triton – moon of Neptune

A dwarf planet is an object which isn’t a planet ora natural satellite. There are now five dwarfplanets recognized: Eris, Ceres, Pluto, Haumeaand Makemake. However, probably about ahundred objects in the Solar System are dwarfplanets.

Ceres Pluto

Asteriods are minor planets. The larger onesare also called planetoids. There are millions ofthem and the majority of them orbit within theasteroid belt between the orbits of Mars andJupiter.

A comet is a small celestial body which appearsbriefly near a star. The star’s warmth createsa coma, or a visible atmosphere, around thecomet. Matter that streams out of the comet’snucleus forms a gas tail and a dust tail.

A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic bodywhich travels through space. It enters the Earth’satmosphere at a speed of over 72,000 km/h.Around 15,000 tonnes of meteoroids,micrometeoroids and different forms of space

dust enter the Earth's atmosphere each year.

Interplanetary dust cloud is cosmic dust in thespace between planets in the Solar System andin other planetary systems. It’s created inasteroid collisions, comet activity andcollisions in the inner Solar System.

Sources:

• www.astroweek.pl

• pl.wikipedia.org

• www.eduscience.pl

• www.naukawpolsce.pap.pl