Notes

Our solar system is made up of the sun and all of the objects that orbit it. These include the eight planets and their moons as well as asteroids and comets. A belt of large rocks orbits the sun between the inner and outer planets. These rocks are known as asteroids. This area is called the asteroid belt.A Scale Model of the Solar System.Planets are large bodies in space that orbit stars. In our solar system, Earth is one of eight planets that orbit the sun. The planets in order of distance from the sun, starting closest to the sun, are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.All of the planets in our solar system are roughly spherical in shape. They also move in orbits that are nearly circular. The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are closer to the sun than the outer planets. These planets are small, rocky, and mostly solid. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus. They are much farther from the sun. These planets are much larger and are mostly made of gas.