Outer Planets

JUPITER

• Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. It's also the largest. It has faint, narrow rings made of dust and rock. As of 2018, it has 79 moons. Notable moons are Europa, Ganymede, Io, and Callisto. Jupiter is mostly made of hydrogen and helium. Its top layer has clouds of ammonia that cause storms. The largest storm, known as the Great Red Spot, has been on Jupiter for at least 300 years.

SATURN

• Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun. It's the least dense of all the planets. It's known for its bright rings made of water, ice, and dust. It currently has 62 moons, including Titan and Rhea. Like Jupiter, Saturn also has storms, but fewer of them.

URANUS

• Uranus, the seventh planet, was discovered by William Herschel, an astronomer, in 1781. It has 27 moons. Uranus has liquid on its surface and icy material in its centre. It has clouds of methane, which give it its blue colour. Unlike the other planets, Uranus is tilted on its side. The reason for this is likely being struck by another object in space. Like the rest of the outer planets, Uranus has rings.

NEPTUNE

• Neptune, named after the roman God of the sea, is the eighth and final known planet in the solar system. It has thirteen moons, including Triton, a moon as big as Pluto. Like Uranus, the blue colour is caused by methane gases in the planet's atmosphere. It has rings, but they're much fainter and darker than Saturn's. On Neptune, there are winds that can reach up to 700 mph.

COMET

• A comet is composed of ice, rock, dust, and other frozen gases. When they fly close to the sun, they form a tail. The sun causes the layers of ice to melt, making the coma glow, and particles push the gas and dust together, forming the tail of the comet. Comets come from the Kuiper Belt, and they orbit the sun.

KUIPER BELT

• The Kuiper Belt lies beyond Neptune in our solar system. It contains comets, asteroids, ice made of methane and ammonia, and even some Dwarf Planets, like Varuna and Makemake.

DWARF PLANETS

• Dwarf Planets are similar to Planets except for one thing- they do not have enough gravity to clear the area surrounding their orbit. The Dwarf Planet Pluto was once considered a Planet, but it was reclassified. There are many Dwarf Planets, both confirmed and unconfirmed. A few well-known Dwarfs (other than Pluto) are Ceres, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake.