The Planets

The Planets of the Solar System 

• Separated into 2 groups that are divided by the Asteroid Belt
  
  

Inner Planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) are also called terra planets. 

• • They are rocky and have a solid surface.

  • They are the smaller planets of the 2 groups and have few or no moons
    
    

Outer Planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are also called gas giants.

• They are made completely of gas and have no solid surface

• They have rings (some are more easily seen than others!)

• They have many moons

On the outer edge of the Outer Planets, our solar system has another asteroid belt called the Kuiper Belt. This is where Pluto lives!

Pluto was once classified as a planet, but was reclassified in 2006. Want to read more about this? Check out this article

Closing off our solar system is the Oort Cloud. 

• Giant cloud of space debris, dust, ice and comets. 

• The Oort Cloud is about 1 light year away from the Sun (see more info on light years in the constellation section!)

• Read more about the Oort Cloud here