Label the Planets Trivia Quiz

The Sun is the center of the solar system and the heavenly body the planets revolve around. It is the primary source of light, heat and power for the solar system. The Sun is technically a star and is in its yellow dwarf phase. It takes sunlight roughly eight minutes to reach Earth.

The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is called an astronomical unit. The Sun is made up of mostly hydrogen with helium making up a large minority. The Sun is approximately 4.5 billion years old and is believed to be halfway through its lifespan.

In another 4.5 billion years or so, the Sun's hydrogen will run out, causing the temperature to rise and causing Earth to become unhabitable.

A sunspot is a region of the Sun that is darker in color. Sunspots are temporary and indicate a lower temperature than normal due to increased electromagnetic activity. Sunspots last for a short period of time, usually for about a week, but can last for many months. If sunspots cross paths, a solar flare may erupt.

A solar flare is an explosion of radiation into space and may effect electronic communications on Earth, such as satellites, temporarily.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest planet in the solar system. It is named after the Roman messenger god Mercury and orbits the Sun in 88 Earth days. Interestingly, Mercury makes a complete revolution around the Sun faster than it spins completely around.

This means that a year on Mercury (the time it takes to orbit the Sun) is actually shorter than a day (the amount of time it takes a planet to fully rotate on its axis).

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Because of its thick atmosphere, it is actually the warmest planet despite being further away from the Sun than Mercury. It takes about 225 Earth days for Venus to orbit the Sun. For many years, Venus was considered something of a twin to Earth and it was believed the planet could sustain life.

However, further research indicated unfavorable conditions to life on Venus including the temperature and surface conditions which are not ideal for life, at least not comparable to life on Earth.

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the planet on which we live and is the only planet known to be able to support life permanently. It takes Earth about 365 days to orbit the Sun. It is the only planet with a permanent water surface, which covers over 70% of the planet's crust.

Other reasons why Earth is the only inhabitable planet are slow moving tectonic plates, varied landforms and land masses, ideal temperature to sustain life and the liquid outer core that makes Earth dense and pushes back against harmful space radiation. Earth is the closest planet to the Sun to have a natural satellite, the Moon.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is commonly called the red planet because of its iron oxide surface. Mars orbits the Sun in about 687 days. It is the planet closest to the Sun with more than one natural satellite, the moons Phobos and Deimos.

Despite being a relatively flat planet, Mars is home to Olympus Mons, one of the tallest (if not the tallest) mountains in the solar system. Mars's landscape is also littered with canyons as the planet's tectonic plates are highly active, much more so than Earth's. Because of this, it seems unlikely Mars would be able to sustain a permanent settlement of human life as sometimes theorized.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in our solar system. In fact, it is larger than twice the size of all other planets in the solar system combined. It is known for its big red spot which is a giant wind storm of unknown origin.

It takes Jupiter just under 12 Earth years to complete one revolution around the Sun. Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field in the solar system and it has a ring system that is not visible to the naked eye and is often not depicted in charts of the planet because it is so faint.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. It is known for its prominent rings, although it is not the only planet to have rings. Its rings are primarily made of ice and rock. It takes Saturn about 29.5 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun. Saturn is a gas giant with a rocky core.

It is composed mainly of liquid helium, hydrogen and ammonia which is responsible for its yellow color. Saturn has many natural satellites or moons - over 100 and even more than 200 if the minor moons trapped in its rings are counted.

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gas planet that is extremely cold and dark. It can have the lowest possible temperature of any planet, despite not being the furthest from the Sun. It takes Uranus just over 84 Earth years to orbit once around the Sun. Uranus is composed of mostly water ice and methane.

It has a very thick atmosphere composed of hydrogen and helium that is likely responsible for its cold temperature as it blocks sunlight from the planet. On rare occasions, Uranus can be seen with the naked eye from Earth but because of its distance, it appears closer to a dim star than a planet.

Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun. Since the downgrade of Pluto to dwarf planet status, Neptune is the furthest true planet from the Sun. It takes Neptune almost 165 Earth years to complete one orbit around the Sun. Like Uranus, Neptune is an ice giant but it is more massive. Because it is so far from the Sun, Neptune cannot be seen from Earth with the naked eye and is very dark as sunlight does reach it very well. Neptune has a Great Dark Spot which, similar to Jupiter's Red Spot, is also a massive storm. Neptune has clear weather patterns, which is unusual for other ice giants including Uranus and other ice giants in other solar systems.