The Bridge V Learning Edition 1 ; our solar system | Page 3

Connection
T he S ola r S ys tem , c on si s ts of th e Su n a s its c en tra l s tar, ei gh t p lan e ts an d
th ei r mo ons pl us dwarf p lan e ts .
T he re a re co un tl es s sm all b odi es . (f u rth e r i nfo rma ti on ab ou t the se ca n b e f rom
th e Vi snj an Obse rva to ry, c on tac t “P od ru te” ). Small bo die s c an b e a n ythin g f rom
s ome th ing the si ze of a pe bbl es to th e s i ze o f a dwa rf p lan e t lik e Plu to ) an d
c ome ts .
Pl an e ts , small bo die s, a s teroid s , dwa rf pl an e ts an d c ome ts all orb i t th e s un
T he E a rth i s a ve ry sp ec ial pla ne t be cau se i t is ou r home! The E arth i s lo ca ted
a bo u t 1 50 mill ion k il ome tre s f rom the S un , g i vi ng a temp e ra ture th a t i s e xa c tl y
ri gh t f or liq uid wa te r to be p re sen t on the su rf ac e , Th is i s c all ed b ein g l oca ted
i n th e “Gold ilo ck s zon e ” a nd ea rth is the on l y pla ne t whic h c an h a ve li qui d
wa te r p rese n t o n th e s u rfa ce . Thi s p ro ve d c ruc ial f o r th e de ve lopme n t o f life!
T he S ola r S ys tem is p a rt of the Milk y W a y. T he milk y wa y i s g al ax y whi ch i s a
c oll ec ti on of a bo u t 2 00 bill io n s tars a rrange d i n a s pi ra l , al on g wi th g as and
d us t.
Man y o f the se s ta rs ha ve pla ne ts a nd po ssi bl y mo on s . So we a re p ro bab l y no t
a lon e i n th e Mi lk y W ay, b u t the di s ta nce s be twee n th e s ta rs are s o b ig tha t a
vi si t to a n o the r world wo uld be ve ry dif fic ul t. R ec en tl y s ci en ti s ts h a ve fo un d
o the r pla ne ts in o th e r g al axi es bu t we do n’t k no w wha t the se wi ll l ook lik e .
C re di t: W ik imedia C ommon / Ni ck Risi ng e r / NASA / JP L