• Mercury

The planet that runs hot and cold in a big way.

• Venus

A prime example of the greenhouse effect.

• Earth

The only planet with liquid water — and lots of it.

• The Moon

No atmosphere, no magnetic field — but romantic nevertheless.

• Mars

The red planet may once have been blue.

• Jupiter

A giant, gaseous orbiter with a stormy red spot.

• Saturn

Get the scoop on the planet that could conceivably float in your bathtub.

• Uranus

Tidbits about the planet that looks as though it tipped over.

• Neptune

A calculated discovery.

• Mars' moon, Phobos

OK, who took a bite out of the moon?

• Dwarf planet, Ceres

A tiny dwarf planet is the big cheese of the asteroid belt.

• Asteroid Eros

We chucked a spacecraft at this asteroid – and it lived to tell the tale.

• Asteroid Ida

An asteroid with a tiny moon.

• Asteroid Vesta

A new meaning to “chip off the old block.”

• Jupiter's moon, Callisto

A moon badly in need of some spackling.

• Jupiter's moon, Europa

A salt-water ocean could lurk beneath the surface of this moon.

• Jupiter's moon, Ganymede

The largest moon in the solar system is bigger than Mercury.

• Jupiter's moon, Io

Hundreds of volcanoes seethe and fume over this moon’s surface.

• Saturn's moon, Titan

Take a dip in a lake of liquid methane.

• Neptune's moon, Triton

A moon that spins to its own tune.

• Dwarf planet, Pluto

The object with an identity crisis.

• Dwarf planet, Eris

The largest dwarf planet discovered so far.

• Comet Hale-Bopp

The comet no one could miss.

• Comet Halley

Learn all about the superstar of comets.

• Comet 9P/Tempel 1

NASA smashed a probe into this comet's core to study ancient material beneath its crusty skin.

Tales of … (cont'd)

• Pluto's changing surface

Pluto may be tiny, but it's not boring. New maps reveal a surface full of drama.

• The first image of a planet orbiting another star

See for yourself! Hubble took the first-ever picture of a planet outside our solar system.

• The hunt for life on other worlds

Find out why scientists were delighted to find methane in the atmosphere of a faraway planet orbiting another star.

• Dust storms seen on Mars

Have an allergy to dust? Avoid Mars. Find out why …

Graphic Organizers (cont'd)

• Comets vs. asteroids

When is a comet not a comet? When it's an asteroid! Find out what makes these space travelers different.