Saturn

Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system it's about 120,000 kilometers in size. Saturn is made up of around 97% of of hydrogen gas, about 3% of helium gas and around 0.05% methane gas. Saturn is one of the four gas giants in our solar system because it is mostly made up of gas. Saturn is the least dense planet because it is made out of hydrogen and helium gas which make the planet very light. Saturn is perfectly round it is sort of like a flattened ball, The distance from the centre of the planet to the poles is 54,000 kilometers and the distance from the equator to the centre is 60,300 kilometers. Saturn has also got seven rings surrounding it.

Saturn's Rings

Saturn's 7 rings are made up of particles of ice, dust and rock. The rings are 273,266 kilometers wide and are very thin. The rings are held in place by some of the many moons that orbit the planet. The gravity from the moons cause the gaps between the rings.

Saturn's moons

Saturn has about 60 moons including the second largest moon in our solar system Titan. Titan is slightly bigger then Mercury and is one of the three moons that have an atmosphere. Of the three Titan's atmosphere is the thickest.

Discoverer

Saturn was discovered by Galileo Galile in 1610 through his telescope. He originally thought that the rings surrounding the planet were two separate spheres. In 1659 Christiaan Huygens used a more powerful telescope then Galileo's and discovered that what Galileo thought were two separate spheres were actually 7 rings around the planet.

FACTS

• Saturn is 856 million miles from the Sun



• One year on Saturn is about 29.5 Earth years



• Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system



• Saturn was named after the Roman God of agriculture. Saturday was also named after him



• Saturn was discovered by Galileo



• Saturn's largest moon is called Titan. titan is slightly larger then mercury and it is also the second largest moon.



• Saturn has about 60 moons and there are probably more to be discovered

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the sun and it is also the closest planet to Earth. One year on Venus is 224.7 earth days. Venus was named after the roman goddess of love and beauty. Venus is brightest just before the sun rises. It is almost the same size as earth and the hottest Venus can get is 480 degrees. Venus is covered in clouds of carbon dioxide that makes the atmosphere un breathable.

How the solar system was created

The solar system was created by a giant cloud of  gas and dust. The  gravity from the dust and gas made them collapse in on there selves. Then it made a giant circle. In the middle of the spinning cloud, a little star started to form. The star bigger every time it collected more of the dust and gas that collapsed.

Constellations

Constellations are made up of bright stars that look close to each other in the night sky but are really far apart in space. The shapes that you can see all depened on where you are looking at them from. Ancient people joined bright stars together with lines and were able to see shapes in the night sky.

                                                          Some Constellations

The Ursa Major (great bear) is a legend of a beautiful Greek girl who was changed into a bear by a goddess who was jealous of her. The seven stars that form Ursa Major's tail and part of the body make the constellation known as the Plough.

Centaurus (the Centaur) According to a ancient Greek legend, a centaur was half human and half horse. The Centaurus constellation is the shape of a Centaur.

Canis Major (The great dog) Canis major is one of two star dogs. The very bright star Sirius also known as the dog star, is located at the neck of Canis.

Orion (The Hunter) Orion was a Greek hero remembered in the stars forever by the god's. The easiest stars to see are the three in Orion's belt.

Asteroids and Meteorites

100's of tonnes of rock shoot very quickly towards the earth every year. But most of the rocks burn up when they reach the earths atmosphere to from shooting stars. The lumps of rock that reach the surface are called meteorites. A few of them are chips off comets , the moon or even Mars but most are bits of asteroids.

The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter contains rocks all sizes. Although they frequently collide and break up the belt it is made up mostly of empty space. All together the asteroids would form an object smaller than the moon.

Meteorites can be big or small.

Meteorites enter the atmosphere, ram pressure,  body to heat up and emit light forming a fire ball known as shooting stars.

Asteroids are a class of small solar system bodies in orbit around the sun.-

Supernovas, Novas and giant red stars

A nova is a star that can suddenly increase in brightness and then suddenly fades. Supernovas are much rarer then novas. A Nova happens when a star runs out of energy and collapses in on its self. Supernovas often form black holes. A supernova is an explosion marking the end of a star. In the last few minutes of it's life the star releases more energy than it has generated in it's entire life. It brightens several billion times more than the sun. It radiates more energy than any other stars in the galaxy combined.
When a star like our sun reaches the end of its life it enters one last phase, ballooning up to many times it's original size. Astronomers call them giant red stars.

The Sun

The sun is one of billions of stars in the universe. It is also the biggest star in our solar system.  Every second a star like our sun converts 4million tonnes of its material into heat and light. The sun is 1.392 million kilometers in diameter. The sun is also known as a yellow dwarf star. The heat and light from the sun makes Earth a good place to live. The sun is a very large ball of gas. The Sun is quite small and has a yellowish colour.

FACTS:

• The suns diameter is 1.4 kilometers
• Core temperate 15 million degrees
• Surface temperature 6 thousand degrees
• The distance from Earth is 150 million kilometers