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Our solar system is made up of a star - the Sun - eight planets, 144 moons, a bunch of comets, asteroids and space rocks, ice and several dwarf planets, such as Pluto.
The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Mercury is closest to the Sun. Neptune is the farthest. Remember the order of the planets like this: My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Neptune.
There's also a gross-out version: My Very Early Morning Jam Sandwich Usually Nauseates. Why not make up one of your own?
Planets, asteroids and comets orbit our Sun. They travel around in our Sun in a flattened circle called an ellipse. It takes the Earth one year to go around the Sun. Mercury goes around the Sun in only 88 days. It takes Pluto, the most famous dwarf planet, 248 years to make one trip around the Sun.
Moons orbit planets. Right now, Jupiter has the most named moons - 49. Mercury and Venus don't have any moons. Earth has one. It is the brightest object in our night sky. The Sun, of course, is the brightest object in our daytime sky. It lights up the moon, planets, comets and asteroids, too.
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