Find out what it's like on other planets. Learn how far away the
stars are. Try a fun, space-themed project. Constellations can
help you sort the twinkling dots scattered across the night sky.
Connect the stars to see what deep-sky wonders emerge. The Sun,
an average-sized, middle-aged star, formed almost 5 billion
years ago from a cloud of gas and dust. Mercury, the closest
planet to the Sun, takes only 88 days to orbit the Sun. The
surface of Venus, the brightest object in the sky after the Sun
and Moon, is covered with craters, mountains, volcanos, and lava
plains. Earth is the third planet from the Sun and takes 23
hours, 56 minutes to spin on its axis one time. The Moon,
located 238,000 miles from Earth, has a temperature of 225° F
during the day and drops down to –243° at night. Rust in the
soil creates the Red Planet's signature color. Jupiter is the
largest planet in our solar system, with a diameter of 89,000
miles. Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, has a ring system
made up of ice and rock part