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LessonsScience

Our Solar System

Our Solar System is our home in space. At its center is the Sun, and eight planets travel around it. Let's take a tour!

The Sun is a star

The Sun is a giant ball of hot, glowing gas. It is a star, just like the tiny stars you see at night — but it looks big and bright because it is much closer to us.

The Sun sits at the center.

Orbit

The path a planet takes as it travels around the Sun.

Eight planets

There are eight planets. In order from the Sun they are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

We live on Earth, the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the only planet we know of that has life.

Earth is our home planet.

A few fun facts

Mars is called the Red Planet because its ground is a rusty red color. Jupiter is the largest planet of all — so big that all the other planets could fit inside it!

Remember: the Sun is a star, and planets travel around it in orbits.