3-2 The Gas Giants & Pluto

After the asteroid belt toward the outer boundaries of the solar system are located the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.  These planets are known as "the Gas Giants."  Planet number five, Jupiter, is the largest of the gas giants.  Jupiter is so big that 1,300 Earths could fit inside it.  The surface of Jupiter is hydrogen gas, and liquid hydrogen is inside.  Jupiter has a Great Red Spot visible on its surface.  This is a violent storm of swirling gases.  Jupiter has at least sixteen moons.

The sixth planet, Saturn is the "ringed planet."  Its rings are made of ice and ice-covered rocks and dust.  Astronomers aren't sure where they came from.  Saturn has twenty-three moons.  One of these moons is called Titan.

Uranus, the seventh planet is unusual because it is tilted on its side.  The rings of Uranus look vertical because of this unusual tilt.  Uranus appears to be greenish in color when seen through a telescope.

The last gas giant, Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun.  Neptune was discovered by accident in 1846.  Voyager 2 photographed it in 1989.  The pictures showed Neptune to be stormy and frozen, and bluish in color.  Neptune can be seen from Earth, but only with a telescope.

The dwarf planet, Pluto, is the tiniest of all planets.  It is the outermost known planet in our solar system.  Pluto takes 248 Earth-years to make one complete orbit around the sun.

Directions: Answer the questions about "the Gas Giants" and Pluto.