# Interactive Solar System

By bao han

Topic: Space

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/4Ybtyv8pEuoR)

## Guide

### 1. Our Solar System

Eight planets travel around one star, our Sun\. The inner planets race around while the outer giants drift slowly\. Drag anywhere to turn the view\.

Sizes and distances are squeezed to fit on the table; the real gaps are far bigger\.

### 2. The Sun

The Sun is a star: a huge ball of hot, glowing gas, mostly hydrogen and helium\. It is about 109 times wider than Earth\. Its pull, called gravity, keeps every planet on its path\.

Its glowing surface is about 5,500 °C\.

### 3. The rocky planets

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are small worlds of rock and metal\. Mercury is closest and goes around the Sun in just 88 days\. Venus is the hottest planet, because its thick clouds trap heat\.

Venus is about 465 °C at the ground, hotter than Mercury\.

### 4. Earth, our home

Earth is the only place we know of with life\. Oceans of liquid water cover most of it\. It leans over by about 23°, which gives us seasons, and one Moon travels around it\.

### 5. The gas giants

Jupiter and Saturn are giants made mostly of hydrogen and helium\. About 11 Earths would fit across Jupiter\. Saturn's bright rings are countless pieces of ice and rock\.

Jupiter spins once in under 10 hours: the shortest day of any planet\.

### 6. The ice giants

Uranus and Neptune are cold blue worlds far from the Sun\. They are called ice giants because they hold lots of water, methane and ammonia\. Uranus spins tipped right over on its side\.

One trip around the Sun takes Neptune about 165 Earth years\.

### 7. Faster near the Sun

Planets near the Sun move faster and have shorter paths to travel\. Watch Mercury lap the others while Neptune barely creeps\. Use the slider to speed time up or slow it down\.

At normal speed, one Earth year passes in 12 seconds here\.

### 8. Explore the planets

Tap the Sun, any planet or its name to pick it out and read a fact\. Remember the order with: My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming\.

Pluto is now called a dwarf planet, so it is not one of the eight\.