It’s a clear day at NG Kids Space HQ and preparations

are just about complete for your mission: to explore 5. Ceres 11. Eris (Xena)
What is 7. Saturn
our solar system! Are you ready, cosmic cadets? It’s time to visit your first dwarf a planet? You’re over Saturn now, the second 9. Neptune You leave Pluto
behind and zoom
5… 4… 3… 2… 1… We have lift off! planet, Ceres. Why isn’t it known
just as a planet, like the others?
Because it doesn’t ‘clear’ the area
In August this year,
astronomers agreed that a
planet is a body that orbits
largest of the planets. You’re so
close to its famous rings that you
notice they’re made of rock and ice.
You race on to Neptune.
Huge storms are going by
on to your last
destination, Eris – the
at speeds of 1,200kmph! largest dwarf planet
around its orbit, although it still around a star without being a This planet is visible to the naked in our solar system.
3. Earth orbits the sun and is almost round star itself; is almost round eye for around 10 months of the Some of the storms last
Eris is the most
1. Mercury Did you know it takes a whole
in shape. It would be great to visit, in shape; and has enough year. Suddenly there’s a blinding for a few years, then fade
away. There are six known distant known object
but it’s time to move on! gravity to ‘clear’ the area light. You duck down and close
First stop is the planet Mercury, year for Earth to travel round rings and 13 moons from the Sun. It has
Cosmic fact around its orbit of your eyes. It must be a supernova
the smallest of all the planets. It’s the Sun, 149,600,000km away? around Neptune – this taken a while to get
Our solar system is now made up debris, like rocks. – an exploding star!
covered with craters – the largest Water covers most of the Earth’s planet has lots going on! here, but the journey
of eight planets and three dwarf Cosmic fact has been awesome!
is 1,300km wide – and the planet’s surface – that’s why it looks blue Cosmic fact
planets – Ceres, Pluto and Eris Saturn is 855 times bigger
surface has extreme temperatures. from up here. Earth is the only
(Xena). Neptune’s largest moon Cosmic fact
planet where living things have than Earth! Eris has had many
Cosmic fact is Triton, and spouting
It would be difficult to pack for a been found… so far! geysers on its surface names, including
holiday on Mercury. During the day, Cosmic fact throw up dark material 2003 UB313, Lila
temperatures can reach around Our Moon orbits Earth every 8km into the air – better and now Xena!
430oC, but at night they can drop to 27.3 days and is our nearest watch out!
-170oC, making it one of the coldest neighbour in space!
planets in the solar system!

10. Pluto
2. Venus 4. Mars
Your next stop is Pluto, which used to be
Your next stop? The Here you are at the red planet. known as a planet, but not now. Because its
brightest object in the sky Looking at Mars you see blasting orbit overlapped with Neptune’s, poor Pluto
apart from the Moon… it’s sandstorms and colossal craters. was stripped of its title, leaving just eight
The Sun r-star
Venus. You see a thick layer Mars has the largest volcano in 6. Jupiter planets in our solar system. It’s now known
The Sun is the supe heat, our solar system, Olympus Mons,

Saturn and Sun c Getty Images UK. Other planets, courtesy of NASA.
of poisonous sulphuric acid as a dwarf planet, along with Ceres and Eris
ste m – all which is 27km high – three times Wow! Look at the size of that
of our solar sy clouds, which means there (Xena). It’s almost time to land!
mes from planet. It’s Jupiter – the largest
light and energy co other
rth ,
may be acid rain storms the size of Mount Everest. What’s
that flying fireball outside your of all the planets. It’s so big that
8. Uranus Cosmic fact
this star. The Ea on the planet – uh-oh! But Pluto has five known moons - Charon, Styx,
planets, meteo rites an d comets window? Check out the comet! d yo u k n o more than 1,300 Earths could
Di
you’re amazed by the giant Next on your journey you see a planet Nix, Kerberos and Hydra.
th Sun. It’s
e fit inside it! As you go past, you
all orbit (go round) hot, with volcanoes and deep valleys Cosmic fact Comets that seems to have been knocked over Did y
ry spot its 16 moons – the four o
w

huge and very, ve covering its surface. The surface of Mars is red – it’s Uranus! Scientists think a giant
are made
?

,000km largest were discovered by the

a diameter of 1,392 of Cosmic fact because of the iron-oxide fro
ice and du m space rock may have pushed it on its Astr

u
o
and a tempera o re
tu astronomer Galileo in 1610. thin nomers

Planets are not shown to scale.

dust (like rust) that st. side. Uranus takes 84 years to orbit

kno ?
Venus spins in the opposite Sometime k tha
15,000,000 C. sy
covers its surface. see their b ou can Cosmic fact the Sun, and its four seasons each last Sun t th
Scorching!
direction to the other la plan and th e
planets, except Uranus. ‘tails’ strea zing Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot for 21 years!
abou s form e
et

w
kin
Its surface temperature is across the g is a storm on the planet that
Cosmic fact t4 ed
around 480oC and is hot started 340 years ago! year .6 billion
night sky. Uranus has 27 known moons and 11 s ago
enough to melt lead! thin rings. !

Here’s a new way of remembering the names of all the planets, and the dwarf planets, too! MY VERY EDUCATED MOTHER CLEARLY JUST SHOWED US NEW PLANETS – EXCELLENT!