☀️ Solar system

The eight planets that circle our Sun, from tiny scorched Mercury to icy, windy Neptune.

Mercury The smallest planet, and the closest to the Sun. Venus The hottest planet, hidden under thick clouds. Earth Our home, the only world known to have life. Mars The red planet, with the tallest volcano in the solar system. Jupiter The biggest planet, with a storm larger than Earth. Saturn The ringed giant, light enough to float in water. Uranus The ice giant that rolls around the Sun on its side. Neptune The farthest planet, with the fastest winds.

Worlds big enough to be round, but not big enough to clear their path around the Sun.

Pluto The famous former planet, with a giant heart of ice. Ceres The biggest object in the asteroid belt. Eris A far-off world about as big as Pluto, whose discovery changed what counts as a planet.

Our solar system has hundreds of moons. These are some of the strangest: volcanic, icy, and one with rain.

The Moon Earth’s only natural moon, and the only other world people have walked on. Io The most volcanic world in the solar system. Europa An icy moon hiding a salty ocean underneath. Ganymede The biggest moon in the solar system, bigger than Mercury. Titan A moon with thick air, rain, rivers and lakes. Enceladus A small, shiny moon that sprays water into space. Triton Neptune’s big moon, which circles the wrong way. Phobos A lumpy little moon of Mars, slowly spiralling inwards. Callisto The most heavily cratered world in the solar system. Mimas A small moon of Saturn with a giant crater that makes it look like the Death Star. Iapetus A two-toned moon of Saturn, one half dark and the other bright. Miranda A patchwork moon of Uranus with enormous cliffs. Charon Pluto’s giant moon, about half as wide as Pluto itself. Deimos The smaller and farther of Mars’s two moons.

Balls of ice and dust that grow glowing tails when they come close to the Sun.

Halley’s Comet The most famous comet, back roughly every 76 years. Comet NEOWISE A bright comet that lit up summer skies in 2020.