SPARK December 2014 | Page 8

Our Solar System! Earth Saturn Distance From Sun: 149,600,000 km Length of a Year: 365 Earth days and 6 hours Length of a Day: 24 hours Size:  6,371 km Radius Distance From Sun: 1,433,000,000 km Length of a Year: 29.7 Earth years Length of a Day: 10 hours, 39 minutes Size:  58,232 km Radius Facts: Facts: ÌÌ It is the only planet that has liquid water on its surface. ÌÌ Saturn is most well-known for its rings. However, it is not the only planet with rings. Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have rings. ÌÌ It is the only planet in the Solar System that has life. Mars Distance From Sun: 227,900,000 km Length of a Year: 687 Earth days Length of a Day: 1 Earth day and 40minutes! Size:  3,390 km Radius Facts: ÌÌ Mars has seasons like Earth too. These seasons are much longer than Earth seasons because Mars is so much further from the Sun. The average high during a Martian summer day is -5°C ÌÌ The dust storms on Mars are larger than on any other planet in the Solar System. Some dust storms on Mars can blanket almost the entire planet in just a few days Jupiter Distance From Sun: 778,500,000 km Length of a Year: 12 Earth Years! Length of a Day: 9 hours, 56 minutes Size:  69,911 km Radius Facts: ÌÌ Jupiter is the giant of the Solar System, with a mass more than 300 times the mass of the Earth and is called after the ancient Roman sky-god, Jupiter, known to the Greeks as Zeus. ÌÌ Jupiter is made of hydrogen, helium, methane and ammonia. The cloudy sphere has bright belts on it which change their shape. 8 | SPARK ÌÌ Saturn has 53 official moons and 9 unofficial moons. The most well-known of Saturn’s moons is probably Titan. Uranus Distance From Sun: 2,877,000,000 km Length of a Year: 84.3 Earth years Length of a Day: 17 hours, 14 minutes Size:  25,362 km Radius Facts: ÌÌ Unlike all the other planets and most of the moons in our Solar System, Uranus spins on its side. ÌÌ Scientists believe that on the surface of Uranus there may be a huge ocean, and it is thought that this ocean may be extremely hot – maybe even as hot as 2760°C! Neptune Distance From Sun: 4,503,000,000 km Length of a Year: 165 Earth years Length of a Day: 16 hours, 6 minutes Size:  24,622 km Radius Facts: ÌÌ Neptune is a very windy place. No other planet in the Solar System has winds that are as strong as Neptune’s . The winds there can blow up to 1,240 miles per hour, that is three times as fast as Earth’s Hurricanes! ÌÌ Neptune is so far away that it took the space probe Voyager 2, 12 years to reach it. 9 | SPARK