G6-The Solar System Lower_Level_04

The Sun is the center of our solar system. The Sun was the first object to form in the solar system, and it is huge! Even the biggest planets look tiny compared to the Sun’s big size. The Sun is made mostly of gas. This burning gas is the Sun’s energy. The Sun can be thought of as a large ball of energy that gives us light and heat here on Earth.

After the Sun formed, there was still some gas and dust left over. While the Sun remained hot, the rest of the gas and dust was cooling down and began to stick together. The clumps of gas and dust grew and became the objects we see today.

Some of those objects are planets. There are eight planets that formed in our solar system. These eight planets are not all the same. We can divide the planets into two groups, the inner and outer planets.

The outer planets are made mostly of gas. They are bigger than the inner planets. They are often called gas giants. They also have rings of gas and dust. They are so far away from the heat of the Sun that they are very cold. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are the outer planets.