Planet Features
Describe a key feature of each planet: Mercury is smallest and closest, Venus is the hottest, Mars is red with rust, Jupiter is the largest with a Great Red Spot, Saturn has rings, Uranus tilts on its side, Neptune is the farthest and very cold
What a learner can do afterwards
- State one distinctive feature for at least six of the eight planets
- Compare at least two planets (e.g. Jupiter is much bigger than Earth, Venus is hotter than Mercury)
- Explain why Mars appears red (iron oxide/rust in its rocks)
1 · Read
Each planet in our solar system has one big feature that makes it stand out. Once you know that one thing, you can spot the planet and remember it easily.
Look at Venus and Mercury. Mercury is closest to the Sun, so you might guess it is the hottest planet. But Venus is actually hotter. Thick clouds around Venus trap heat like a blanket, so Venus wins as the hottest planet in our solar system.
Rings for Saturn, rust for Mars, and a tilt for Uranus, which spins almost like a rolling ball instead of standing up straight.
Every planet has one big feature, like Saturn's rings, Mars's rusty red color, or Jupiter's giant storm, that helps you tell it apart from the rest.
More to read
Key points: The solar system
Each planet has its own personality. Mercury is the smallest and closest to the Sun. Venus is the hottest with a thick, toxic atmosphere. Earth is the only planet with liquid water and life. Mars is red from iron oxide (rust) in its rocks. Jupiter is the largest with a Great Red Spot, a storm bigger than Earth. Saturn has dazzling rings made of ice and rock. Uranus spins on its side, tilted over 90 degrees. Neptune is the farthest, very cold, with the fastest winds in the solar system.
11.2 The Giant Planets
The four outer planets are gas giants. Jupiter and Saturn are mostly hydrogen and helium. They have no solid surface, just deeper and denser gas. Jupiter's Great Red Spot has raged for at least 300 years. Saturn's rings are the most spectacular in the solar system. Uranus and Neptune are ice giants with more water, ammonia, and methane ices. Methane gives them their blue colour. All four have strong magnetic fields and many moons.
F | Physical and Orbital Data for the Planets
Planetary data tables let you compare the worlds side by side. Mercury: 4,879 km diameter, 88-day orbit. Venus: 12,104 km, 225-day orbit, backwards spin. Earth: 12,756 km, 365-day orbit, one Moon. Mars: 6,779 km, 687-day orbit, two tiny moons. Jupiter: 140,000 km, 12-year orbit, 95 known moons. Saturn: 117,000 km, 29-year orbit, 146 moons, famous rings. Uranus: 51,000 km, 84-year orbit, tilted sideways. Neptune: 49,500 km, 165-year orbit, supersonic winds.
How to Draw the Solar System
Drawing the planets helps you remember their order and relative sizes. Start with the Sun on the left. Then draw Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars close together. They are small. Leave a gap for the asteroid belt. Then draw Jupiter and Saturn much larger with rings for Saturn. Uranus and Neptune are smaller than the gas giants but bigger than the inner planets. Colour them: Mercury grey, Venus yellow-white, Earth blue-green, Mars red, Jupiter striped brown and white, Saturn pale gold with rings, Uranus pale blue, Neptune deep blue.
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2 · Watch
به انگلیسیTake it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
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Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.