Pluto!!!

Pluto is the last planet in our solar system and it is rather confusing so just try to stay with me.
Pluto is the smallest planet and it's number 9. But that's only part true. Every 248 years Pluto and Neptune change places Pluto becomes number 8. The last time Pluto became the 9th planet that was in 1999.
Pluto swaps with Neptune for about 20 years then goes back.
Scientists haven't been able to study Pluto very well because of it being so far away but they think it's about 390 degrees below zero over there. Pluto rotates in the opposite direction of most of the other planets and is like Uranus is on it's side.
All the planets orbit around the sun in all at more or less the same height but Pluto orbits up and down.
Pluto was discovered 1930 and 48 years later Pluto's moon Caron was discovered.
Earth's moon is equal to about a 50th of Earth's size but Caron is about a 6th of the size of Pluto.
Most People think that Pluto should be a comet because of it's size and behavior. But some think it should be a planet.
In 2006 NASA sent out a spacecraft that is supposed to reach Pluto in 2015.
Pluto also has something called the Kuiper belt which will probably need it's own post.

Neptune!!!

• Neptune is the second to last planet.
• It is a bright blue and it two wobbles while orbiting.
• Like Jupiter and Saturn Neptune as storms raging on it all the time. Neptune has a spot. It's called the Great Dark Spot. Scientist think that the storms on Neptune are mad of diamond dust.
• Neptune is smaller than Uranus it's inner core is rock and surrounded by liquid.
• A year on Neptune is 164 earth years, and a day is 16 hours long.
• Neptune is also very cold! It is 370 degrees below zero.
• Neptune has 10 moons the biggest of which is Triton which is 400 degrees below zero and Triton is moving closer to Neptune every day.
• So only 1 more planet to go.
• Second to last.

Uranus!!!

• Uranus is the second to last planet in our solar system!!!
• Now most planets spin around the sun but Uranus rolls. Just imagine that Uranus has a North pole and a South pole. While Earth is spinning the poles are be up and down(More or less.). But Uranus's poles would be straight out on both sides while spinning so that means that Uranus is on it's side.
• Uranus has 11 rings. The rings are straight up and down which effects Uranus orbiting and make it all wobbly.
• Like Venus, Uranus spins the opposite way from all the other planets.
• And being away from the sun Uranus is -350 degrees.
• Like Saturn, Uranus's rings have dust, rocks and moons. Two of the moons are Cordelia and Ophelia. Two of the characters from one of Shakespeare's plays!
• Believe it or not Uranus was only discovered in 1781 by William Herschel and his sister Caroline.
• One year on Uranus is equal to 84 Earth years. And one day is 17 hours.

Wow!!!

Jupiter yet again!!!

Jupiter is the biggest planet and the astronomers can also see Jupiter's spot and so it kind of stands out.

Most people see Jupiter's spot and if the can't tell at first they recognize it by it's spot.
Jupiter spot is called-(are you ready?) Great Red Spot.
But actually the spot isn't a spot at all but a giant storm many times stronger than the storms we have on earth.
The storm has been going on for at least 300 years!
The Great Red Spot is twice the size of earth.

Jupiter has four moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, which I do believe I have told you about.

Since Jupiter is very far away from the sun so not much heat can reach it. But Jupiter has it's own source of heat.
In the core of Jupiter there are hot rocks that keep Jupiter warm.

Jupiter's days are very short. One day is only 10 hours. But a full year is equal to 12 earth years.
Jupiter is one big ball of gas. It is almost all atmosphere.

A little on Mars

The planet next in line is the planet Mars.
Mars is a lot like earth in that it has volcanoes, mountains and valleys.
But Mars is different from the earth because it has a thin layer of atmosphere and no oxygen.
Mars has two moons Phobos and Deimos. (Neither look much like moons.)
It takes two earth years for Mars to orbit the sun and and day on Mars is equal to 687 earth days.
Mars is always 81 degrees below zero. And the hottest it gets is 32 so my sister, Erin,(who doesn't like the cold)is glad we do not live there.
All though Mars is so cold it is closer to earth temperatures then any other planet.
Just like the earth Mars is at a tilt and so it has four different seasons:
Very Cold; A Little Warmer(32 degrees); Getting Colder and Very Cold Again. Just kidding!
But it does have four seasons.

Amazing Earth

Isn't it amazing how God made the earth?
We have atmosphere, gravity and oxygen.
If we were too close to the sun, or if we had to much atmosphere we would be like Venus or Mercury!
So you have to agree that every thing is just right!
We live on earth, so we already know a great deal about it, but here is just one thing that many people don't know much about.
The layers in the earth.
There are four - the Crust, the Mantle, the Outer Core and the Inner Core.
So that's good old earth!

(Boy we are moving through this pretty fast!)

Short Post

Did you know that scientist have a hard time taking pictures of Mercury because it is so close to the sun?

Mercury!!!

Mercury is the next planet to the sun and so we are not able to observe it well because of the sun.
The only space craft that has ever gotten very close is the "Mariner 10."
The Mariner 10 got some information on Mercury but not much.
Mercury, during the day, gets up to 750 degrees!
So being so close to the sun it would never get cold? Not!
During the day it's unbelievably hot but at night it gets to be -300 degrees!
COLD!!!
Well the reason that Mercury doesn't have the layer of gasses called atmosphere to keep the heat in so at night it just keeps getting colder and colder and colder and colder.
Because Mercury doesn't have any atmosphere the sky is always gray.

Jupiter's Moons

Last night we heard that we could see Jupiter and it's four moons.
So we went outside and ate a picnic dinner while we watched the moons.

Jupiter is only separated from us by one planet. Mars.

So we got our binoculars. Put them on our tripod and watched the moons and got to see them move across the sky.
Pretty cool!

Jupiter's four moons are:
Europa, an icy moon.
Io is a colorful moon because of all the sulfer.
Callisto; all ice and rock.
And Ganymede is a lot bigger than Jupiter.

So whats the difference between a planet and a moon?
A planet orbits the sun, and a moon orbits the planet.


(Well I hope I haven't gotten to boring yet!)