1. Space Odyssey
Come Explorethe
Solar System!

2. Your Mission
You will take a journey through outer space. Along the way you will learn about our solar system and the objects in it.
Be sure to keep an eye out for space creatures along the way.
Click the shooting star to navigate through the pages. Hang on tight and lets go!
3. Discovery of the Solar System
A model where the earth and other planets travel around the sun.
What does Heliocentric mean?? Click the sun to find out!
Nicolaus Copernicus
discovered that our solar system was Heliocentric.
4. Discovery of the Solar System
Click on the telescope to view more!
Galileo Galilei
made great improvements on
the construction of the telescope.
5. Discovery of the Solar System
A telescope magnifies objects that are far away and allows us to see them clearly.
Click on the magnify glass to see some object through a telescope.
6. Now that we know a little about how the Solar System was discovered, lets see what we can find on our exploration!
Hop aboard the rocket and
get ready for take off!
First stopThe Sun!
7. The Sun
Answer the following questions about our sun. Click on the answer you think is correct.
The sun is by far the largest object in the solar system.
Our Sun is actually the closest star to Earth.
The sun's strong gravitational pull holds Earth and the other planets in place.
True
False
True
False
False
True
8. TheTerrestrialPlanets
A terrestrial planet is a planet that is primarily composed
ofrocks and/or metals. Click on the rock to see the
terrestrial planets in our solar system.
Earth
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Hey!Those are also the four planets closest to the sun!
9. TheGaseousPlanets
A gaseous planet is a planet that does not contain any
ofrocks and/or metals. Click on the gas flame to see
the gaseous planets in our solar system.
Uranus
Jupiter
Saturn
Neptune
Hey! Did you know that gaseous planets are alsocalled Jovian planets, named for the gas giant Jupiter?
10. TheDwarfPlanets
Adwarf planetis a object that is too small to be
categorized as a planet but too large to be categorized
as any otherobject.Three of the larger dwarf planets are found below.
Pluto
Ceres
Eris
Hey! Did you know that thedwarf planet Pluto was the only planet to be named by a kid?
Pluto used to be classified as a planet. It wasnt until 2006 that it was changed to a dwarf planet.
11. Can you guessthe order of the planets? Click on the planet name to see where it goes!
Lets take a closer look at each of the planets in the solar system. First stop -- Mercury!
Saturn
Jupiter
Uranus
Earth
Mars
Neptune
Mercury
Venus
12. Mercury is the planet nearest to the sun.
The sun appears 2 and a half times larger in Mercury's sky compared to the Earth's.
Mercury
13. Venus is the hottest planet in the
solar system.
The brightest of all planets, Venus, is also known as the Morning
Star and the Evening
Star.
Venus
14. Earth is an oasis of
life in an otherwise desolate universe.
The Earth's temperature, weather, atmosphere and many other factors
are just right to keep
us alive.
Ear
t
h
15. Mars excites
scientists because its mild temperament is more like the Earth's than any of the other planets.
Mars has two moons,
their names are Deimos and Phobos.
Mars
16. Jupiter is by
far the largest planet in our Solar System.
The Earth could fit inside Jupiter more than
1000 times.
Jupiter has 50 official moons.
Jup
i
t
er
17. Saturn is the
lightest planet in our Solar System. It is made up of mostly hydrogen and helium.
Sa
t
urn
18. Uranus spins on
its side.
Uranus is an very cold planet. It is believed
that Uranus is made
up of rock
and ice.
Uranus
19. For many
centuries people
did not know that
Neptune even existed.
It was discovered by Johann Galle and
Heinrich D'Arrest
in 1846.
Nep t une
20. Congratulations! Your space odyssey has come to an end.
It is now time to return
home.
If you want to continue your exploration, click on the
link for these websites.
The are out of this world!
Nasa Kids Club
Astronomy for Kids