Parker's Space Diorama

A digital diorama showing the Sun and planets of the solar system. Stars are extremely hot, and planets orbit around them.

The Sun
The Sun is a star and extremely hot.

Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and has a rocky, cratered surface.

Venus

Venus is wrapped in thick clouds and is one of the hottest planets in the solar system.

Earth

Earth is the only known planet with life, liquid water, and a breathable atmosphere.

Mars

Mars is known as the red planet and may once have had flowing water.

Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet and is famous for its giant storms and many moons.

Saturn

Saturn is best known for its wide, bright rings made of ice and rock.

Uranus

Uranus spins on its side, which makes it one of the strangest planets in the solar system.

Neptune

Neptune is a deep blue ice giant with some of the fastest winds in the solar system.

Pluto

Pluto is a dwarf planet with an unusual tilted orbit far beyond Neptune.

Stars Are Very Hot

Stars shine because huge amounts of energy are released inside them. That is why stars like the Sun are bright, powerful, and extremely hot.

The solar system is the Sun and everything that travels around it, including planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.

Each planet moves around the Sun on its own path. Pluto is different, with a more tilted and stretched-looking orbit.