Educational Solar System jigsaw puzzle.
Is the Solar System Jigsaw Puzzle ready? Good job! Now it's time to step further into the ROOVI’s universe and explore space in a fabulous digital way.
Which is the coldest planet in the solar system? What does a solar telescope do? What is a meteoroid? What about a meteorite? Click below and discover all this and many more amazing facts about all the planets and space objects in this fabulous jigsaw puzzle for 7 year olds.
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Sun
Age: 4.603 billion years
Diameter: 1.3927 million km
Rotation Speed: 1.997 km/s
Average surface temperature: 5,505°C
1. Is located in the center of the Solar System and it is the most important source of energy for life on Earth.
2. It is made up of hot, glowing hydrogen and helium gases.
3. The Sun’s light reaches the Earth in eight minutes.
4. The sun is so big that 1.3 million Earths could fit inside it!
5. The sun gives us far more “green” and free energy than we can ever use.
Mercury
1st planet from the Sun
Discovered: 1631
Age: 4.503 billion years
Diameter: 4,879.4 km
Orbital period: 88 days
Rotation period: 58 days, 15h, 30m
Average surface temperature: 167°C
1. Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system.
2. Mercury is a rocky planet, like Earth, and has a similar surface with mountains, craters, and plains.
3. Because is so small, it has very weak gravity. So if you stood on Mercury, you would weigh only about 38% of what you weigh on Earth.
4. Mercury has no rings or moons and no atmosphere. It is covered by a layer that scientists call the exosphere.
5. Because it is close to the Sun, it can be seen three times larger from Mars than from Earth.
Venus
2nd planet from the Sun
Discovered: 1610
Age: 4.503 billion years
Diameter: 12,104 km
Orbital period: 225 days
Rotation period: 116 days, 18h
Average surface temperature: 464°C
1. It is often called Earth’s sister planet because it is similar in size and composition to Earth.
2. On Venus, the Sun rises in the West and sets in the East, as this planet rotates on its axis in the opposite direction compared to Earth.
3. Because of its dense atmosphere, made mainly of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, it is the hottest planet in the solar system.
4. Venus is home to the Maat Mons volcano, about 8 km high and one of the largest volcanoes in our solar system.
5. Venus has more than 90 times the atmospheric pressure at its surface than on Earth.
Earth
3rd planet from the Sun
Age: 4.543 billion years
Diameter: 12,742 km
Orbital period: 365 days
Rotation period: 24.0h
Average surface temperature: 15°C
1. Earth is often called the “blue planet” because about 71% of its surface is covered in water.
2. Earth’s atmosphere is made up of elements that create the perfect balance to breathe and live: 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other elements.
3. The Earth has a moon that orbits around it. This is the 5th largest moon in our solar system.
4. The Earth is not perfectly round, but shaped like a slightly flattened sphere.
5. When the Earth was born 4.6 billion years ago, the day was only 6 hours long.
Mars
4th planet from the Sun
Discovered: 1610
Age: 4.603 billion years
Diameter: 6,779 km
Orbital period: 687 days
Rotation period: 1 day, 37m
Average surface temperature: -65°C
1. Mars is known as the “Red Planet” because of its reddish appearance in the sky.
2. Mars is home to the highest mountain in our solar system – the Olympus Mons volcano – which is 3 times taller than Mount Everest.
3. On Mars you could jump 3 times higher than on Earth as the gravitational force is much weaker.
4. Although there was thought to be no water on Mars, in 2018 researchers found evidence of a lake beneath the planet’s southern polar cap.
5. Humans have not yet walked on Mars. But since 1976 they have sent spacecraft to investigate the planet.
Jupiter
5th planet from the Sun
Discovered: 1610
Age: 4.603 billion years
Diameter: 139,820 km
Orbital period: 12 years
Rotation period: 9h, 56m
Average surface temperature: -110°C
1. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and is known as the “king of the planets” because of its size and dominance.
2. Jupiter is a gas giant planet made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
3. Jupiter has a unique feature called the “Great Red Spot” – a gigantic storm that’s about twice the size of Earth and has raged for over a century.
4. Jupiter has many moons – it has at least 79 moons orbiting around it.
5. Jupiter has a very strong magnetic field that’s about 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s.
Saturn
6th planet from the Sun
Discovered: July, 1610
Age: 4.503 billion years
Diameter: 116,460 km
Orbital period: 29 years
Rotation period: 10h, 34m
Average surface temperature: -140°C
1. A unique giant planet in our solar system because of its beautiful rings made up of ice particles, rocks, and dust.
2. Research shows that the particles forming Saturn’s rings are 3 billion years old.
3. Saturn has a very low density – if you could find a big enough bathtub, Saturn would float in it!
4. Saturn has at least 82 moons – the most of any planet in our solar system.
5. Like Earth, Saturn has seasons. But summer on this planet lasts about 8 years.
Uranus
7th planet from the Sun
Discovered: March, 1781
Age: 4.503 billion years
Diameter: 50,724 km
Orbital period: 84 years
Rotation period: 17h, 14m
Average surface temperature: -195°C
1. This planet is an ice giant, being placed in an orbit 19 times farther from the Sun than the Earth.
2. Uranus is the coldest planet in our solar system.
3. Uranus has a strange rotation as well as a pronounced axial tilt of 98 degrees compared to the Earth, which is 23.5 degrees.
4. Officially, Uranus has 27 moons that have been named after a character in the works of William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope.
5. Uranus’ rings are dark and have been discovered by space probes since 1977.
Neptun
8th planet from the Sun
Discovered: September, 1846
Age: 4.503 billion years
Diameter: 49,244 km
Orbital period: 165 years
Rotation period: 16h, 6m
Average surface temperature: -200°C
1. Neptune is known for its blue colour due to methane in its atmosphere.
2. It was the first planet to be located using mathematical calculations instead of a telescope.
3. It is 30 times further from the Sun than the Earth and is the only planet in our solar system that is not visible to the naked eye.
4. Neptune has a very strong magnetic field – it’s about 27 times stronger than Earth’s.
5. Neptune has at least 14 moons which are named after sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology.
Moon
Earth’s natural satellite
Age: 4.51 billion years
Diameter: 3,474.8 km
Average orbital speed: 1.022 km/s
Orbital period: 27 days
Temperature: -173°C to 127°C
1. The Moon is about a quarter the size of the Earth, and the 5th largest satellite in the solar system.
2. The Moon is covered in craters, mountains, and valleys, and it has no atmosphere.
3. It is responsible for causing tides on Earth because of its gravitational pull.
4. Every year, the Moon is slowly moving away from our planet by about 3.5 cm.
5. The moon is also “shaken” by quakes. These are weaker than earthquakes but can last up to half an hour.
Meteoroid
1. Meteoroids are small bodies floating in space. They can be pieces of comets or asteroids.
2. The smallest meteoroids are the size of a grain of sand, the biggest are boulders 1 meter across.
3. When a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up, it’s called a meteor or shooting star.
4. Millions of meteoroids impact the Earth’s atmosphere every day.
5. Some meteoroids come from the Moon or Mars and have been blasted into space by impacts.
Meteor
1. Meteorites, also known as ‘shooting stars’, are streaks of light that appear when meteoroids burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
2. Meteor showers are named after the constellation in which their radiant is located.
3. On impact with Earth, meteorites can cause craters or even destroy life.
4. It is estimated that about 500 meteorites reach the ground each year, but only five or six are recovered for scientists to study.
5. The largest meteorite ever found weighed about 60 tons and was discovered in Namibia, Africa.
Comet
1. Comets are made up of ice, rock, and dust – they’re sometimes referred to as “dirty snowballs.”
2. Comets usually have two tails – one made of gas and one made of dust.
3. Can travel through space at speeds of up to 150,000 miles per hour.
4. Some comets have orbits that take them close to the Sun – these are called short-period comets.
5. Halley’s Comet is one of the most famous comets – it appears in the sky every 76 years.
Asteroid
1. Asteroids are small rocky objects that orbit the Sun – they’re also known as minor planets.
2. Most asteroids are located in the asteroid belt, which is between Mars and Jupiter.
3. Some asteroids are made up of metal, while others are made up of rock or a combination of both.
4. Asteroids are rich sources of carbon, silica, and metals; some have water ice trapped in the rubble mass.
5. Some of them get pulled into a planet’s gravity and become their moons.
Hubble space telescope
1. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into space in 1990 – it’s been in operation for over 30 years!
2. The Hubble Space Telescope has helped scientists discover new planets, study black holes, and learn more about the early universe.
3. The Hubble Space Telescope is about the size of a school bus and weighs over 11,000 kg.
4. It orbits about 547 km above Earth and travels 8 km every second.
5. It can capture images of objects as far away as 13 billion light-years.
GPS Satellite
1. GPS stands for Global Positioning System – it’s a network of satellites that orbit Earth.
2. GPS satellites were first launched into space by the US Department of Defense in the 1970s.
3. There are currently 31 active GPS satellites in orbit around Earth.
4. GPS satellites transmit signals that can be received by GPS devices on Earth.
5. GPS satellites are powered by solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity.
Asteroid Sample Mission
1. OSIRIS-REx is a NASA mission to study the asteroid Bennu.
2. OSIRIS-REx will use a robotic arm to touch the surface of Bennu and collect a sample of the asteroid.
3. If successful, OSIRIS-Rex will be the first US spacecraft to bring back samples from an asteroid.
4. The OSIRIS-REx mission has a mascot named “Benny the Bennu” – he’s a cartoon character that looks like the asteroid Bennu.
Communication Satellite
1. A communication satellite is a type of satellite that’s designed to help us communicate with people around the world.
2. Communication satellites orbit Earth at a height of about 22,000 miles.
3. They can help us make phone calls, send text messages, and use the internet.
4. The first communication satellite was launched in 1962, and it was called Telstar.
5. Communication satellites can be as big as a school bus or as small as a suitcase.
Weather Satellite
1. A weather satellite is a type of satellite that’s designed to help humans to observe and predict the weather.
2. Weather satellites orbit Earth at a height of about 22,000 miles.
3. They can help us track storms, hurricanes, and other severe weather events.
4. Weather satellites have helped us develop more accurate weather forecasts and warning systems.
5. They have even been used to study the behavior of animals, like migratory birds and sea turtles.
International Space Station
1. The International Space Station (ISS) is a huge space station that orbits Earth at an altitude of about 250 miles.
2. It is made up of several different modules that were assembled in space by astronauts.
3. It has been continuously occupied by astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.
4. Astronauts on the ISS can see up to 16 sunrises and sunsets in a single day.
5. The ISS has a gym and a stationary bike that astronauts use to exercise and stay healthy in space.
James Webb Space Telescope
1. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a huge telescope that was set to launch into space in 2021.
2. The JWST is able to detect the faint light from the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang.
3. It has a sunshield that’s about the size of a tennis court and helps to protect the telescope from the sun’s heat and light.
4. In early 2023, NASA announced that JWST had detected an asteroid between 100 and 200 metres in diameter.
5. Since its launch, JWST has allowed scientists to get important data from space and capture spectacular images.
