Mon Prof Augmenté
Planets circling the Sun
Age 13 · Astronomy
The Sun’s strong gravity pulls on all eight planets and keeps them travelling around it in nearly circular paths. Each planet has its own distance from the Sun, and all the paths lie in the same flat plane.
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Age 13: open this week
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In the picture
- The Sun: its gravity holds every planet in orbit
- The nearest planet: a small, close and fast orbit
- A planet farther out: a bigger orbit at a different distance
- The outermost orbit: the longest path, in the same flat plane
Examples
- A ball on a string swung in a circle: the string pulls it inward like gravity.
- The Moon circling Earth: gravity keeps it going round instead of flying away.
Key takeaways
- Gravity from the Sun keeps the planets in orbit.
- The planets' orbits are almost circular and lie in nearly the same plane.
Quiz: Planets circling the Sun (Age 13)
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What keeps the eight planets travelling around the Sun?
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What shape are the planets' orbits?
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How are the planets' orbits arranged?
The answers, each with its explanation, are in the app. This lesson has left the free week, so its quiz is part of the subscription.
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