THE PLANETS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The Solar System is known to contain 9 planets, with a total number of 61 moons (so far discovered and confirmed) orbiting them. It also contains thousands of asteroids, meteors, comets, rocks (made of ice and iron and other materials). These are all explained in more detail in other places on this website. This page is just a brief discription of the nine planets which we know to orbit the Sun.

The planets can be split into two categories. There are the Inner Planets, which are the four planets closest to the Sun, and the Outer Planets, which are the five planets furthest away. These Outer Planets are also known as the Gas Giants, since they are made up mainly of gases, and are not known to have rocky surfaces like the Inner Planets. The only exception is Pluto, the planet furthest away from the Sun, which resembles the Inner planets, but receives almost no heat at all from the Sun.

Shall we visit the Inner Planets or the Outer Planets first?

- INNER PLANETS - OUTER PLANETS -