Planets of Our Solar System
Eight planets, from scorched Mercury to windy Neptune. Data: NASA Planetary Fact Sheets.
Mercury
The smallest planet and closest to the Sun. Its surface is heavily cratered and experiences the most extreme temperature swings in the Solar System.
Venus
A rocky planet wrapped in thick carbon-dioxide atmosphere and sulphuric-acid clouds. A runaway greenhouse effect makes it the hottest planet.
Earth
Our home: the only known planet with liquid-water oceans, an oxygen-rich atmosphere, and life. Its axial tilt drives the seasons.
Mars
A cold desert planet with the tallest volcano and deepest canyon in the Solar System. Robotic rovers search for signs of ancient water and life.
Jupiter
The largest planet — a gas giant more massive than all other planets combined. The Great Red Spot is a storm larger than Earth.
Saturn
A gas giant famous for its bright rings of ice and rock, some only about ten metres thick yet hundreds of thousands of kilometres wide.
Uranus
An ice giant tipped on its side, rotating at about 98 degrees. Methane gives it a pale blue-green colour.
Neptune
The most distant planet: a deep-blue ice giant with the fastest winds in the Solar System, up to about 2,000 km/h.