Australian Geographic 8+ Years|Arts & Crafts-Build your own Solar System

Assemble and paint your own planetarium. Includes 8 snap together planets, sun and stand that allows the orbits of the solar system.

Scientists know a lot about the solar system, but they have no way of determining just how big the universe is.

Our Solar System consists of many objects. Planets, dwarf planets, moons, the asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt. All gravitationally bound to orbit the Sun these objects travel around the solar system.

The Sun is our star, central to everything, followed by the four small terrestrial planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. In the vast expanse after Mars is the asteroid belt, made up of asteroids, debris of ice and rock. We then have Jupiter and Saturn – the two largest planets and both primarily composed of hydrogen and helium. Uranus and Neptune are classified as ice giants.Beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper belt – mainly objects comprised of ice – and Pluto, a dwarf planet. Other objects in the solar system include comets, dust clouds, ‘natural satellites’ or moons.

In our solar system there are lots of moons. Earth has one moon, and most major planets – all except Mercury and Venus – have moons. Mercury doesn’t have a moon due to being too close to the Sun, its gravity would pull the moon in towards it. Mars has two moons, Jupiter has 79 moons; including the largest moon Ganymede. Saturn is next with 53 moons and some pending confirmation, and lastly Uranus with 27 and Neptune with 14. Pluto and some other dwarf planets, as well as many asteroids, also have small moons.