The Outer Planets
Los planetas exteriores
The planets of our solar system
Los planetas de nuestro sistema solar.
The Outer Planets
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are four planets that have many things in common. They are located farther from the sun than the inner planets. They also have a strange nickname. They are known as gas giants. They are much larger than the rocky planets like our home, Earth. Let’s learn more about these gas giants!
Jupiter
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. Jupiter is made mostly of gas. It is not solid rock like Earth. That’s why many people call it a gas giant. Jupiter has a big storm on it. This storm is called the "great red spot." Sometimes on Earth we have storms. Storms on Earth may last for hours or days. This storm on Jupiter has lasted for hundreds of years! Jupiter has many moons. One of its moons is the biggest moon in our entire solar system. This moon is even bigger than Mercury, one of the planets!
Jupiter and its great red spot
Júpiter y su gran mancha roja
Saturn
Saturn is famous for the rings around it. These rings are made of ice and rock. The rings are very wide across. They are also very thin. Saturn is a gas giant too. It doesn’t have a solid surface like Earth. Like Jupiter, Saturn has many moons. Saturn’s largest moon is called Titan. Scientists are very interested in Titan because it has lakes and rivers. On Earth, lakes and rivers are made of water. On Saturn, these lakes and rivers are made of liquid methane instead of water.
Uranus
Uranus is a gas giant too. It is different from Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus is tilted on its side. This means it spins in a way that is different from the other planets. Imagine if Earth spun on its side! Uranus is also a very cold planet because it is so far from the Sun. Its color is a pale blue. This is because of the methane gas in the air around Uranus. Uranus has many moons. It also has a ring system. The rings are hard to see because they are dark.
Neptune
Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun. It is thirty times as far from the Sun as Earth! Like Uranus, it also has a blue color. Neptune is known for having the strongest winds in the solar system. The winds have speeds that can reach up to 1,200 miles per hour! That’s twice as fast as the airplanes we use to travel from city to city. It also has a big storm called the "great dark spot." This storm is like Jupiter’s great red spot, but it doesn’t last as long.
These four outer planets are all very different from Earth the other rocky planets that are closer to the Sun. The outer planets are huge. They are made mostly of gases. Even though they are very far away, scientists study them. This helps us learn more about how our solar system works and how planets form. Maybe one day we’ll understand even more about these gas giants!
Los Planetas Exteriores
Júpiter, Saturno, Urano y Neptuno son cuatro planetas que comparten muchas cosas. Se encuentran más lejos del Sol que los planetas interiores. Además, tienen un apodo peculiar: se les conoce como gigantes gaseosos. Son mucho más grandes que los planetas rocosos como nuestro hogar, la Tierra. ¡Aprendamos más sobre estos gigantes gaseosos!
Júpiter
Júpiter es el planeta más grande de nuestro sistema solar. Está compuesto principalmente de gas. No es roca sólida como la Tierra. Por eso muchos lo llaman gigante gaseoso. Júpiter tiene una gran tormenta. Esta tormenta se llama la "Gran Mancha Roja". A veces, en la Tierra, tenemos tormentas. Las tormentas terrestres pueden durar horas o días. ¡Esta tormenta en Júpiter ha durado cientos de años! Júpiter tiene muchas lunas. Una de ellas es la luna más grande de todo nuestro sistema solar. ¡Esta luna es incluso más grande que Mercurio, uno de los planetas!
Jupiter and its great red spot
Júpiter y su gran mancha roja
Saturno
Saturno es famoso por los anillos que lo rodean. Estos anillos están hechos de hielo y roca. Los anillos son muy anchos y delgados. Saturno también es un gigante gaseoso. No tiene una superficie sólida como la Tierra. Al igual que Júpiter, Saturno tiene muchas lunas. La luna más grande de Saturno se llama Titán. Los científicos están muy interesados en Titán porque tiene lagos y ríos. En la Tierra, los lagos y ríos están hechos de agua. En Saturno, estos lagos y ríos están hechos de metano líquido en lugar de agua.
Urano
Urano también es un gigante gaseoso. Es diferente de Júpiter y Saturno. Urano está inclinado de lado. Esto significa que gira de una manera diferente a la de los demás planetas. ¡Imagina si la Tierra girara de lado! Urano también es un planeta muy frío debido a su gran distancia del Sol. Su color es azul pálido debido al gas metano presente en el aire que lo rodea. Urano tiene muchas lunas y un sistema de anillos. Los anillos son difíciles de ver porque son oscuros.
Neptuno
Neptuno es el planeta más alejado del Sol. ¡Está treinta veces más lejos del Sol que la Tierra! Al igual que Urano, también tiene un color azul. Neptuno es conocido por tener los vientos más fuertes del sistema solar. ¡Estos vientos alcanzan velocidades que pueden alcanzar hasta 1930 kilómetros por hora! Eso es el doble de rápido que los aviones que usamos para viajar de ciudad en ciudad. También tiene una gran tormenta llamada la "Gran Mancha Oscura". Esta tormenta es como la Gran Mancha Roja de Júpiter, pero no dura tanto.
Estos cuatro planetas exteriores son muy diferentes de la Tierra y de los demás planetas rocosos más cercanos al Sol. Los planetas exteriores son enormes. Están compuestos principalmente de gases. Aunque están muy lejos, los científicos los estudian. Esto nos ayuda a aprender más sobre cómo funciona nuestro sistema solar y cómo se forman los planetas. ¡Quizás algún día comprendamos aún más sobre estos gigantes gaseosos!
The Outer Planets
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are four planets in our solar system that share interesting similarities. They are located farther from the sun than the inner planets. This group of planets have an unusual nickname. They are known as gas giants. They are much larger than the rocky planets like our home, Earth. Let’s learn more about these gas giants!
Jupiter
Saturn is famous for the rings around it. These rings are made of ice and rock. The rings are very wide across, but they are also very thin. Saturn is a gas giant too, so it doesn’t have a solid surface like Earth. Like Jupiter, Saturn has many moons. Saturn’s largest moon is called Titan. Scientists are very interested in Titan because it has lakes and rivers. Unlike on Earth, these lakes and rivers are made of liquid methane instead of water.
Jupiter and its great red spot
Júpiter y su gran mancha roja
Saturn
Saturn is famous for the rings around it. These rings are made of ice and rock. The rings are very wide across. They are also very thin. Saturn is a gas giant too. It doesn’t have a solid surface like Earth. Like Jupiter, Saturn has many moons. Saturn’s largest moon is called Titan. Scientists are very interested in Titan because it has lakes and rivers. On Earth, lakes and rivers are made of water. On Saturn, these lakes and rivers are made of liquid methane instead of water.
Uranus
Uranus is a very interesting planet. It is a gas giant too, but it is different from Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus is tilted on its side. This means it spins in a way that is very different from the other planets. Imagine if Earth spun on its side! Uranus is also a very cold planet because it is so far from the Sun. Its color is a pale blue because it has a lot of methane gas in its atmosphere. Uranus has many moons. It also has a faint ring system. The rings are hard to see because they are dark.
Neptune
Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun. It is thirty times as far from the Sun as Earth! Like Uranus, it has a blue color because of methane gas in its atmosphere. Neptune is known for having the strongest winds in the solar system. The winds have speeds that can reach up to 1,200 miles per hour! That’s twice as fast as the airplanes we use to travel from city to city. It also has a big storm called the "great dark spot." This storm is similar to Jupiter’s great red spot, but it doesn’t last as long.
These four outer planets are all very different from Earth the other rocky planets that are closer to the Sun. The outer planets are huge and made mostly of gases, not solid rock. Even though they are very distant, scientists study them to learn more about how our solar system works and how planets form. Maybe one day we’ll understand even more about these far away gas giants!