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The Earth and Beyond

The Planets.

The nine planets are
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
Mercury is closest to the Sun and Pluto is furthest away.
You can remember the order of the planets by learning
"My Very Elegant Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets".
The first letter of each word is the first letter of the planet
- try making up your own sentence.

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are called the inner planets.
The inner planets are made from rock with an iron or nickel core.
After Mars there is a belt of asteroids, then
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are called the outer planets.
The outer planets are mainly hydrogen and helium
with an icy or rocky core.
Pluto is a little different and seems to be more rocky
 than the other outer planets.

There is a table which gives a summary of information for the planets
or click on the name of a planet for individual information.

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Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.