Solar System Essentials

1. What object is at the center of our solar system?

The Sun

Sun

2. Which planet is closest to the Sun?

Mercury

3. Which planet is hottest on average?

Venus

4. Which planet is our home world?

Earth

5. Which planet is called the Red Planet?

Mars

6. Which planet is the largest?

Jupiter

7. Which planet has the most visually prominent ring system?

Saturn

8. Which planet rotates on its side, with an axial tilt near 98 degrees?

Uranus

9. Which major planet is farthest from the Sun?

Neptune

10. What is a dwarf planet beyond Neptune that was once classed as the ninth planet?

Pluto

11. What is the asteroid belt?

A region between Mars and Jupiter containing many rocky bodies

12. What is a comet primarily made of?

Ice, dust, and rock

13. What causes Earth's seasons?

Earth's axial tilt as it orbits the Sun

14. What causes the Moon's phases?

Our changing view of its sunlit half as it orbits Earth

15. What force keeps planets in orbit around the Sun?

Gravity