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SPACE

Graphic guide to our solar system

By Steve Hopkinson

How long is a day on the Moon? How wide are Saturn's rings? Find out with this visual tour through our solar system's most fascinating features.

While our own planet is fairly temperate, the solar system is home to some extreme temperatures. The closest planets to our Sun, Mercury and Venus, are blisteringly hot when compared with Earth.

In contrast, the planets furthest from our sun - Neptune and Uranus - are bitterly cold. The two are known as our solar system's 'ice giants'.

Our solar system's largest planets, the gas giants, are so large that some of their component parts would dwarf Earth.

The bodies in our solar system rotate at their own rates, giving each its own day length. Some are a similar duration to Earth's, while others are radically different.