Relative size

The Sun

The Sun is the centre of the Solar System. All the 9 planets in the Solar System move around the Sun in their orbits. The Sun is the only star in the Solar System that gives out light and heat. The Sun is also the biggest object in the Solar System.

Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to our sun and is the smallest planet in the solar system. It is named after a roman god. It has no natural satellites and no substantial atmosphere. Mercury is the nearest planet to the Sun. It is 58 million km from the Sun.

Venus 
Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is named for the ancient Roman goddess of love and beauty. The planet, the only planet named after a female, may have been named for the most beautiful deity of her pantheon because it shone the brightest of the five planets known to ancient astronomers.

Earth

Earth, our home, is the third planet from the sun. It is the only planet known to have an atmosphere containing free oxygen, oceans of liquid water on its surface, and, of course, life. Earth is the fifth largest of the planets in the solar system — smaller than the four gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, but larger than the three other rocky planets, Mercury, Mars and Venus.

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance.

Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest. Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined (the mass of Jupiter is 318 times that of Earth).

 

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and was named after the Roman God and is famous for its beautiful rings. Saturn is the second largest planet. It is the next planet after Jupiter.

 

Uranus

Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun in our solar system. Uranus is the third largest planet in the solar system, is a Gas Giant and is the seventh planet from the sun. Planet Uranus has rings.

Neptune

Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun. It is also known as the Blue Giant. Neptune is the fourth and outermost of the gas giant planets and also has rings. Its atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium. In Roman mythology Neptune was the god of the Sea. Neptune and Uranus are very much alike. They are both large gas planets that look like big blue-green balls in the sky. This planet has large, dark circles on its surface which astronomers believe to be storms.

 

Pluto

Pluto orbits beyond the orbit of Neptune (usually). It is much smaller than any of the official planets and now classified as a "dwarf planet".