The sun’s family
The planet earth is part of a family. It is one of nine planets that
belong to the sun. We can see some of these planets at night, shining
like bright stars. Like the earth and the moon, the other planets all
shine with reflected sunlight.
Each planet moves around the sun in a path called an orbit. There are
many millions of miles (kilometers) between the planets. Two planets are
closer to the sun than the earth; the others are all farther away. Four
planets are smaller than the earth; four are much bigger. Seven of the
planets have moons, or satellites.
Planets and moons aren’t the only things whirling around the sun. There
are also billions of chunks of rock and metal called meteoroids. There
is a ring of much larger chunks of rock and metal, like small planets,
called asteroids. There are comets, clouds of drifting gas, and bits of
dust.
All these things are tied to the sun by its gravity. They are the sun’s
“family,” called the solar system
