Lesson 4 Page 1
Observe: The Scale of the Solar System
Likely, you have seen a picture of the solar system in a book. The planets are usually close together - and near the Sun.
In the real solar system, the planets are incredibly far from one another and from the Sun. In fact, to travel through space to visit even our closest neighbouring planets, would take months, or even years.
This is a good thing for us because, if Earth were too close to the Sun, the weather would be too hot for us to survive! If we were too far away, it would be too cold to survive.
The Sun, though far away, has a powerful reach to all the planets. In fact, the Sun’s magnetic field protects the planets from harmful cosmic rays. The Sun’s magnetic field extends beyond the farthest planet in our solar system.
