Planets For Kids - Solar System Facts and Astronomy

Our Planets

Welcome

Welcome to Planets for Kids I really hope you enjoy the information that I have provided on this website. You will find lots of information about our solar system with lots of questions and answers and games for you to play. We also have a color in section where you can download pictures and have fun. Remember everything here is "Kid-friendly" so lets get started....

Introduction

We have nine planets in our Solar System. These planets circle around the sun (as I’m sure you know already) this is called orbits.

A lot of astronomy people like to think of the Solar System been made up in two parts

We have the Inner Solar System which has Mercury, Venus, Earth and not forgetting Mars. These are closest to the sun and are called the terrestrial planets simply because the have very solid rocky surfaces.

The Outer Solar System has Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune these are sometimes called the gas giants

Out past Neptune you’ll find the small planet of Pluto which has a solid but icier surface. Many don’t class this as a planet anymore but you can read this on the Pluto page.

These two systems are separated by the asteroid belt

Our Solar System also contains comets, moons, dust, gas and some minor planets.

Read more | Frequently Asked Questions

What Is The Solar System?
The Solar System is made up of all the planets that orbit our Sun. In addition to planets, the Solar System also
consists of moons, comets, asteroids, minor planets, and dust and gas.

Everything in the Solar System orbits or revolves around the Sun. The Sun contains around 98% of all the material
in the Solar System. The larger an object is, the more gravity it has. Because the Sun is so large, its powerful gravity
attracts all the other objects in the Solar System towards it. At the same time, these objects, which are moving very
rapidly, try to fly away from the Sun, outward into the emptiness of outer space. The result of the planets trying to fly
away, at the same time that the Sun is trying to pull them inward is that they become trapped half-way in between.
Balanced between flying towards the Sun, and escaping into space, they spend eternity orbiting around their parent
star.