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The Earth is one of the eight planets in the solar system, the other seven being Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These planets are arranged according to their increasing distance from the sun).

The planets, which are closer to the sun, like Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, are called the inner planets. The planets that are farther away are called the outer planets.

Mercury is the planet closest to the sun and is not easily visible because of the glare of the sun. It can be observed either before sunrise or after sunset. It is the smallest planet in the solar system. It takes 88 days for Mercury to go around the sun once. Hence, a year on the earth is equal to four years on Mercury.As this planet is close to the sun, it is too hot for life to exist on it. Several holes known as craters are present on the surface of Mercury. Due to the absence of atmosphere around it, this planet becomes very hot during the day and extremely cold at night.

Venus, a near twin in size to the Earth, has a very thick atmosphere composed of primarily carbon dioxide gas. The thick carbon dioxide atmosphere traps heat from the Sun during the day and does not let the surface cool at night; as a result, temperatures on the Venusian surface are over 464ºC (867º F). The high temperature and unbreathable

thick atmosphere would make the planet very inhospitable to human visitors.

Earth is humanity’s home planet. Most of its surface (over 70%) is covered with oceans, with the rest featuring a wide variety of land forms,from mountains and valleys to plains and beaches. Earth has a thick atmosphere, which is mostly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), with other gases such as argon, carbon dioxide, and water present in small

amounts. The region on and near the surface of Earth (both above and below ground) is filled with life. The presence of liquid water on the planet’s surface and the existence of life make the Earth a unique object in the Solar System. Whether life could and does exist outside of Earth is the subject of study through the science of astrobiology.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars is covered with red rocks. There are huge volcanoes and lots of craters on the surface. So far, scientists haven’t found any life on Mars.

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and can be easily seen with the naked eye. While the earth has one moon, there are many moons that orbit Jupiter. It has a large red spot on its surface which is a hurricane.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. It is a giant planet.Saturn has beautiful rings. Saturn is gold, brown, and white.Its rings are gold, brown, white, red, yellow, and green.

Neptune is a ball of gas with a metal core.

Neptune is usually the eighth planet from the Sun. For a few years Pluto was actually closer to the Sun than Neptune. The planet is surrounded by blue clouds and dark rings.