What Are Planets Made Of?

Ever wondered, “What are planets made of?” The answer: it depends. Some planets are made of rock, like Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars; others are made of gas, like Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Jupiter, for instance, is made up mostly of trapped helium, hydrogen, and water.

In “Starfish and Space Dust”, the second adventure in the illustrated children’s book series about the adventures of Morgan and Little Fly, Morgan also asks “what are planets made of?” In the end, he and his friend find out some of the answers to the secrets of planets and stars. They meet a wise old Starfish after an adventure that takes them through lagoons and rock pools in the South African resort of Plettenberg Bay.

Unlike stars, planets don’t make their own light. Instead, they reflect it, just like the moon. And there aren’t nearly as many planets as stars. Until recently, astronomers said there were nine planets in our solar system, including Pluto. But in 2006, the International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto wasn’t a real planet, but a “dwarf planet” instead. Now there are only eight bodies classified as planets. These are Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. There are, of course, billions of planets in the universe.

“Starfish and Space Dust” will give you some fun answers to the question: What are planets made of? If you want to learn more about the science, take a look at some of these sites:

International Astronomical Union http://www.iau.org/

What Makes a Planet? http://www.astro.cornell.edu/~jlm/planet.html

Astronomers decide Pluto isn’t a real planet: http://www.newsweek.com/id/4546

Plotting Pluto’s Comeback: http://www.newsweek.com/id/44382

Want a book that teaches your kid what planets are made of? Get your copy of Starfish and Spacedust now!