About the Author 

My name is Chrystal Jones, and I am a junior at Georgia Gwinnett College studying to become an Elementary School teacher. I was born in Guyana, which is located in South America. I moved to America when I was just eight years old. I currently live in Georgia, but my goal is to travel the world. 

Our Journey Begins:......,..................... 4 

The Milky Way Galaxy:...................... 6  

The Solar System:............................... 8

The Sun:............................................... 10

Mercery:................................................ 12 

Venus:................................................... 14

Earth:.................................................... 16 

Mars:..................................................... 18

Jupiter:................................................. 20

Saturn:................................................. 22

Uranus:.................................................. 24

Neptune:............................................... 26

 Pluto:.................................................... 28

The End Of Our Journey:.................. 30

Glossar:................................................. 32

Table of Contents

Have you ever wondered about where you live? Not just at home, but in the universe? If you have, let us go on a journey together. If you haven’t put me back on the shelf… just kidding, stick around, and I will answer questions you didn’t even know you had.  

Our Journey Begins

The Milky Way Galaxy 

First, let us start our journey at the Milky Way Galaxy… What is the Milky Way Galaxy, you ask? Well, it’s only the most important galaxy because it’s where we live. The Milky Way is a huge collection of stars, dust, and gas. And if you want to be even more exact, we live in one of the arms of this large spiral galaxy. 

The Solar System

Now that we have discovered that we live inside the Milky Way Galaxy, it's time for us to locate our solar system. 

The Solar System consists of the Sun and everything that orbits or travels around the Sun. Inside the solar system, there are celestial objects such as the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Dwarf planets such as Pluto. Dozens of moons and millions of asteroids, comets, and meteoroids.

That was a lot, I know, but don't worry, we're going to learn all about these celestial objects as we continue to explore our solar system and learn all kinds of fun fact.

The Sun

After discovering that we live inside the solar system, it's time to explore some more. 

Did you know that there is only one star in our solar system, and that star is called the Sun? The Sun is at the center of our solar system, and it's what holds everything together, and everything in our solar system revolves around it.

       I guess you can say the sun is the star of the solar system.

Fun Fact!

The sun is the largest object in our solar system. Over one million Earths can fit inside the Sun. That’s how big the sun is.

Mercery 

The first planet to orbit the sun is the planet, Mercury. Mercury is also the smallest planet in our solar system and the closest to the Sun. Mercury is a terrestrial planet meaning it is an earthlike planet. It is a rocky planet, and its surface is covered with craters. It takes Mercury 88 earth days to go around the sun, meaning a year it's only 88 earth days long. That's a short time. Your birthday on mercury would be about every three months. Isn’t that crazy!

Venus

The next planet on our journey through the solar system is Venus. Named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus is the second planet from the Sun, following Mercury. Even though Mercury is closer to the Sun, Venus is considered the hottest planet in our solar system. Like Mercury, Venus is also a terrestrial planet. It is small and rocky with volcanoes.

Earth

The third planet on our journey is Earth. Does that sound familiar to you? Well, I sure do hope so because Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the planet we call home. It's also known to be the only planet to harbors life. You might think you know all there is to know about earth because you live here but did you know that Earth is an ocean planet where 70% of the surface is covered by water? The planet we call home is a rocky terrestrial planet with a solid and active surface consisting of mountains, valleys, canyons, planes, and much more.  

Mars

Following our planets in order, the next planet on our journey through the cosmos is Mars. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and it is also the second-smallest planet in our solar system. Did you know Mars is called the Red Planet? It got its name because of all the iron in the soil, which causes the surface and atmosphere to look red. What's so interesting about this planet is that it looks hot, but it's very cold. The average temperature is negative 62 degrees Celsius. Yikes! Unlike Earth, Mars has two moons. Can you imagine looking up into the sky and seeing two moons?  That would be awesome.

Jupiter

Meanwhile, our travels have led us to Jupiter, the fifth and largest planet in our solar system. Jupiter is a giant gas planet meaning it does not have a solid surface. It is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter also has rings, but they're so faint that you can't see them very well. If you think having two moons was cool, imagine having 79 moons because that's how many moons Jupiter has.