The planets facts

Mercury is a small planet which orbits closer to the sun than any other planet in our solar system. As well as being very hot, it features a barren, crater covered surface which looks similar to Earth's moon.

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  The surface of Mercury is very similar to our moon. It has a very barren, rocky surface covered with many craters.
  

• Being so close to the Sun, the daytime temperature on Mercury is scorching - reaching over 400 Degrees Celsius.
  

• At night however, without an atmosphere to hold the heat in, the temperatures plummet, dropping to -180 Degrees Celsius.
  

• Mercury has a very low surface gravity.
  

• Mercury has no atmosphere which means there is no wind or weather to speak of.
  

• There is also no water on the surface of Mercury, it is possible however that there could be water underneath the surface.
  

• Likewise, there is no air on the surface but it could be trapped underneath.
  

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. Its famous 'Red Spot' and raging gas storms give it an impressive if not intimidating appearance. As well as having many moons, Jupiter also has a number of rings similar to that of Saturn but much less noticeable.

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  Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar system. It is so big that more than 1300 Earth's could fit inside it.
  

• Thick, colorful clouds of deadly poisonous gases surround Jupiter. The quick spinning of the planet whips up the atmosphere, creating the bands around the planet.
  

• If you were to descend into Jupiter, the thin, cold atmosphere becomes thicker and hotter, gradually turning into a thick, dark fog. In the blackness about 1000km down the pressure squeezes the atmosphere so hard that it becomes like liquid.
  

• At the centre of Jupiter is a rocky core, slightly bigger than Earth but weighing about 20 times more.
  

• Surrounding the core is an ocean of liquid hydrogen, about 1,000 kilometres deep.
  

• Jupiter has many storms raging on the surface, most notably the big red spot which is the largest hurricane in our Solar System. It's been raging for over three hundred years.
  

• Jupiter has a very strong magnetic field, you would weigh two and a half times as much as you would on Earth.
  

• Jupiter has many moons circling around it.