We live on the planet Earth. Our planet is one of the nine planets that revolve periodically around the Sun. The nine planets and the sun make up what we know as our Solar System.
Nearest to the Sun is the planet, Mercury. Mercury is a tiny planet that is hardly visible to the naked eye.
Further out is Venus, sometimes called the Morning Star or the Evening Star. It is thus called because it is frequently seen in the morning or evening as a very bright object in the sky.
Next comes Earth. Earth is the only planet in the entire Solar System known to support life. Why is this so no one really knows.
The fourth planet from the Sun is Mars. This planet is sometimes visible as a reddish object in the night sky. Viewed through a powerful telescope one may even see some details on the planet’s surface.
After Mars comes to the giant planet Jupiter. It is the largest planet in the Solar System. There are a number of moons orbiting Jupiter. They can be seen through a telescope. Also, the surface of Jupiter shows a variety of patterns of which a huge red spot is plainly visible. The red spot is said to be many times the size of Earth.
Between Jupiter and Mars there exist many small objects called asteroids. They are not normally visible but scientists have confirmed they exist
Next, come to the beautiful Saturn. It is quite a sight to view Saturn through a telescope and see distinctly the multi-colored rings it is so famous for. Saturn is not as big as Jupiter but it is bigger than the other planets.
Further out we have Neptune. Uranus and Pluto. Pluto is the smallest of the -planets and can hardly be seen even with a powerful telescope.
Millions of miles separate the planets from one another. Thus it is only recently that man could visit our neighboring planets. So far man has not set foot on any of the planets.
If we look at the night sky we see literally millions of stars. Our Sun is merely a star too. So could it be that there are other solar systems too? Perhaps each star has its own solar system. We do not know. One day when we are able to, we may find out.