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A Simple Look at the Solar System

English level
Level 2
Topic
Space
Estimated reading time
2 mins
A Simple Look at the Solar System, a story about Space
A Simple Look at the Solar System

The solar system is so large that light takes over eight minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth.

It is made up of the Sun, eight planets, and many smaller objects such as moons and asteroids.

The Sun sits at the center and provides heat and light for everything around it.

A side-by-side comparison of the four small rocky inner planets, cratered gray Mercury, cloudy yellow Venus, blue-green Earth, and rusty red Mars, lined up against black space

The four planets closest to the Sun are small and rocky: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

Earth is the only planet known to support life, thanks to its liquid water and atmosphere.

Beyond Mars lies the asteroid belt, a region full of rocks and small bodies orbiting the Sun.

Jupiter and Saturn are the two largest planets, and both are made mostly of gas.

A close-up of Saturn's pale golden rings catching sunlight at an angle, layers of ice and rock particles glittering in fine detail against the black of space

Saturn is famous for its beautiful rings, which are made of ice and rock.

Uranus and Neptune are called ice giants because they contain a lot of frozen materials.

Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun, and it has the strongest winds in the solar system.

Many planets have moons orbiting them, and some moons may even have conditions for life.

A small robotic spacecraft with extended solar panels and antennas approaching the rust-colored surface of Mars, Jupiter's striped disk faintly visible in the far distance

Humans have sent spacecraft to explore many parts of the solar system, including Mars and Jupiter.

We have learned a great deal about our neighbors in space, but many mysteries still remain.

The solar system will continue to inspire scientists and dreamers for many generations to come.

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