Part of ScienceEarth and space
This video can not be played
Narrator: Further from the Sun, in the outer reaches of the solar system, we find the gas planets.
Much larger than the rocky planets, these cosmic giants are accompanied by numerous moons.
Jupiter, famous for its red spot, is the largest, followed by Saturn with its rings made of ice, rock and dust.
Uranus and Neptune come next.
Whilst unmanned spacecraft have approached the gas planets, actual landings are not possible because of the lack of solid surfaces.
What? What’s this?
Stella: Don’t land on them now,
They’re not very stable,
They’re gaseous balls,
Don’t land on them now,
They’re hydrogen and helium,
They’ve no surface at all,
They’re not like a table,
In fact they’ve got no surface at all!
No surface at all!
Gas planet facts
Find out more by working through a topic
How does the Sun affect the weather?
Why is the temperature different in different places on Earth?
How do reactions power rockets?
How do you stay alive in space?
