- A day on Mercury lasts 176 Earth days, while a year lasts 88 Earth days.
- Unlike all other planets in our Solar System, Venus spins clockwise on its axis.
- Mars is also known as the ‘Red Planet’ because of the large amount of iron oxide (rust) in its soil and rocks, which makes it appear bright red.
- Jupiter, as well as being the largest planet in the Solar System, is also the fastest-spinning planet. It only takes about 10 hours to complete a full rotation on its axis.
- Saturn has 150 icy moons and smaller moonlets. The largest moons are called Titan and Rhea. In addition, scientists think there may be an ocean beneath the frozen surface of the moon Enceladus!
- Pack a coat or 50 if you’re planning to go to Uranus. Uranus has the coldest temperatures of any planet – a minimum temperature of -224 degrees Celsius.
- Neptune is the Ice Giant planet, named after a sea god due to its deep blue color. Its 14 known moons are also named after sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology.
- Winds on Neptune blow at more than 1,100 miles per hour (ca. 1,770 km/h) – faster than the speed of sound on Earth!
- Pluto is a dwarf planet just beyond Neptune. There are also four other Dwarf Planets kept in orbit by our Sun’s massive gravitational pull. These are Ceres, Haumer, Makemake, and Eris.
- Earth is the only planet in our solar system that supports life: from elephants to mushrooms to jellyfish, hummingbirds, and fir trees; this is because Earth has lots of oxygen and water: two incredibly essential things living beings need to survive.
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