Skip to content
The Open University
  • Accessibility
    • Sign in
    •  / Sign out
    • StudentHome
    • TutorHome
    • IntranetHome
    • SponsorHome
  • Contact
  • Search the OU
  • The Open University
  • Study at the OU
  • Research at the OU
  • OU Community
  • About the OU
OpenLearn homepage
The home of free learning
from The Open University
Search
The global OpenLearn navigation can be tabbed through (155 items), or the arrow keys used to move around within it (including just moving along the 10 top level items).
Alternatively you can skip the navigation by pressing 'Enter'.
  • Body & Mind menu item

    Childhood & Youth

    • Childhood and Youth Studies
      • Childhood
      • Youth Studies
    • Early Years
    • Working with Young People

    Health

    • Children and Young People
      • Children
      • Young People
    • Health Sciences
    • Health Studies
      • Mental Health
    • Nursing
    • Public Health
    • Sport and Fitness
      • Physical Fitness
      • Sport

    Psychology

    • Psychological Studies

    Social Care

    • Social Work
  • Education menu item

    Educational Technology and Practice

    • Educational Practice
    • Educational Technology

    Mathematics Education

      Professional Development in Education

      • Teacher Training
    • History & The Arts menu item

      Culture

      • English Language
      • Literature and Creative Writing
        • Creative Writing
        • Literature
      • Media Studies
      • Music
      • Philosophy
        • Concepts
        • Ethics
        • Schools of thought
        • Thinkers
      • Religious Studies
      • Visual Art

      History

      • Classical Studies
      • Heritage
      • History of Art
      • History of Science, Technology and Medicine
        • History of Medicine
        • History of Science
        • History of Technology
      • Social & Economic History
      • World History
    • Languages menu item

      Chinese

        English Language

          French

            Gaelic

              German

                Italian

                  More Languages

                    Spanish

                      Welsh

                      • Money & Management menu item

                        Management

                        • Business Research Methods
                        • Business Studies
                        • Environmental Decision Making
                        • Global Development Management
                        • Human Resources
                        • Leadership and Management
                          • Leading
                          • Managing
                        • Management Systems
                        • Technology Management

                        Money

                        • Accounting and Finance
                          • Accounting
                          • Finance
                        • Economics
                        • Personal Finance
                      • Nature & Environment menu item

                        The Environment

                        • Creative Climate
                          • Explore The Diaries
                            • Activism Diaries
                            • Arts Diaries
                            • Business Diaries
                            • Community Diaries
                            • Design Diaries
                            • Ethics Diaries
                            • Media Diaries
                            • Policy Diaries
                            • Research Diaries
                          • Share Your Diary
                        • Environmental Decision Making
                        • Environmental Science
                        • Environmental Studies

                        Natural History

                        • Behaviours
                        • Conservation
                        • Habitats
                        • Species
                      • Science, Maths & Technology menu item

                        Computing and ICT

                        • Computing
                        • Information and Communication Technologies
                        • Systems (Computer)

                        Engineering and Technology

                        • Design and Innovation
                          • Design
                          • Innovation
                        • Engineering
                        • Technology
                        • Technology Management

                        Mathematics and Statistics

                        • Mathematics
                        • Mathematics Education
                        • Statistics

                        Science

                        • Across the Sciences
                        • Biology
                        • Chemistry
                        • Environmental Science
                        • Geology
                        • Health Sciences
                        • Physics and Astronomy
                          • Astronomy
                          • Physics
                        • Public Health
                      • Society menu item

                        International Development

                        • Environmental Decision Making
                        • Environmental Science
                        • Global Development Management
                        • International Studies
                          • Global Education

                        Politics, Policy & People

                        • Economics
                        • Geography
                        • Participation Now
                        • Politics
                        • Social Policy
                        • Sociology
                          • Secret Street diaries

                        The Law

                        • Criminology
                        • Law
                      • Get Started menu item

                      • What's On menu item

                        TV

                        • Tuesday 18th June
                          • 8:00pm, BBC Two, Airport Live, Episode 2
                        • Wednesday 19th June
                          • 8:00pm, BBC Two, Airport Live, Episode 3
                        • Thursday 20th June
                          • 8:00pm, BBC Two, Airport Live, Episode 4

                        Radio

                        • Tuesday 18th June
                          • 11:00am, BBC Radio 4, Can we save it all?
                          • 7:32pm, BBC World Service, Click: A Route 66 of the future - Ep 4
                        • Wednesday 19th June
                          • 2:32am, BBC World Service, Click: A Route 66 of the future - Ep 4
                          • 9:32am, BBC World Service, Click: A Route 66 of the future - Ep 4
                          • 4:00pm, BBC Radio 4, Thinking Allowed: Diana

                        Events

                        • Tuesday 18th June (All day)
                          • (All day), Lough Erne, G8: Lough Erne welcomes...
                      • You are here:
                      • Home
                      • Science, Maths & Technology
                      • Science
                      • Physics and Astronomy
                      • Astronomy
                      • Explore the Solar System

                      Explore the Solar System

                      Featuring: Activity
                      Hide summary

                      Explore the planets in our Solar System with our interactive guide.

                      Explore the planets in our Solar System with our interactive guide.

                      By: The OpenLearn team (The Open University, Programme and web teams)

                      • Duration: 10 mins
                      • Published on: Wednesday 3rd February 2010
                      • Introductory Level
                      • Posted under: Astronomy
                      View article Comments (0) Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Google Plus
                      Print

                      About the author

                      The OpenLearn team

                      The OpenLearn team (The Open University, Programme and web teams)

                      So how does all this free learning content make its way to you from the brains of Open University experts? The answer is the OpenLearn team who work with academics to make this website available to the world for free.

                      Read more about The OpenLearn team

                      Other pages You might like

                      Previous set
                      • Io, a moon of Jupiter progfront

                        Explore: Measuring the Solar System

                        Dr Alan Cooper discusses the methods used to measure the solar system

                      • Measuring latitude

                        Explore: DIY: Measuring Latitude and Longitude

                        A step-by-step guide on how to work out your latitude and longitude, part of the BBC/OU's...

                      • More like this podcast

                        Try: The physical world: collisions

                        It has been called a 'Big Bang Machine', but what is the Large Hadron Collider and what...

                      • More like this OLE

                        Try: Unclear about nuclear?

                        The unit will provide an opportunity for young people (18+) who are interested but unsure...

                      • More like this OUC

                        Study: Exploring science

                        Develop key scientific skills and explore a range of fascinating concepts and topics,...

                      • The Sun. Image: NASA-JPL

                        Explore: Transit of Venus: Gallery

                        Images and movies from the Transit of Venus

                      • More like this podcast

                        Try: The physical world: waves and relativity

                        This album explores the science of waves. Five video tracks feature two pair trawling...

                      • More like this OLE

                        Try: Cell signalling

                        This unit explains the general principles of signal transduction and specifically, how...

                      • More like this OUC

                        Study: Mathematical methods and models

                        Solve real problems by transforming them into mathematical models and learning methods of...

                      • Neon blue stars against a dark background

                        Explore: Stargazing 2011

                        Whether you are a keen astronomer or new to stargazing, we have some helpful tools to...

                      • More like this podcast

                        Try: The physical world: helicopters

                        Want to learn to fly a helicopter? In this album Royal Berkshire Ambulance pilots show...

                      • More like this OLE

                        Try: Achieving public dialogue

                        There are a wide range of interactions between ‘science’ and ‘the public’....

                      Next set

                      More by The OpenLearn team

                      Previous set
                      • Explore: OU on the BBC: Shared Planet – Can we save it all?

                        With so many species and habitats under threat, episode two asks: how do we decide what...

                      • Explore: OU on the BBC: Thinking Allowed – Remembering Diana

                        This week on Thinking Allowed: Did Princess Diana's death prompt a major shift in British...

                      • Explore: OU on the BBC: Airport Live – Episode 4

                        The fourth episode sees Dallas Campbell is at the controls of a flight simulator to see...

                      • Explore: OU on the BBC: Airport Live – Episode 3

                        In episode three, Dallas Campbell looks at the hundreds of markings that must be painted...

                      • Plane in blue sky

                        Explore: OU on the BBC: Airport Live – Episode 2

                        Episode two follows a shorthaul flight turnaround, with just 45 minutes from landing to...

                      • Heathrow air traffic control

                        Explore: OU on the BBC: Airport Live – Episode 1

                        The first episode in a new four-part live series exploring Heathrow, the world's busiest...

                      Next set

                      Comments

                      Be the first to post a comment

                      To comment on this page Sign in or Register.

                      Copyright & revisions

                      Publication details

                      • Originally published: Wednesday, 3rd February 2010
                      • Last updated on: Tuesday, 10th January 2012

                      Copyright information

                      • Body text - Copyright: The Open University

                      Feeds

                      If you enjoyed this, why not follow a feed to find out when we have new things like it? Choose an RSS feed from the list below. (Don't know what to do with RSS feeds?)
                      Remember, you can also make your own, personal feed by combining tags from around OpenLearn.

                      • Latest OpenLearn pages
                      • Latest pages by The OpenLearn team
                      • Latest pages from OpenLearn - Astronomy
                      • Latest pages tagged Planets
                      • Latest pages tagged Solar System
                      • Latest pages tagged Space
                      • Latest pages tagged Universe
                      • Latest comments on this page

                      Tags, Ratings and Social Bookmarking

                      Page Tags

                      Sign in or create a free account to add tags to your personal tag cloud using:

                      • PlanetsAdd this tagRemove this tag
                      • Solar SystemAdd this tagRemove this tag
                      • SpaceAdd this tagRemove this tag
                      • UniverseAdd this tagRemove this tag
                      Close

                      Ratings

                      There are no ratings yet

                      Share

                      About this site

                       

                      OpenLearn: free learning from The Open University

                      • Explore with the OU’s experts
                      • Try extracts from course materials
                      • Watch, listen and interact
                      Sign In Sign Up Help

                      Study with the OU

                      Open University

                      Editor's choice

                      Keep secrets or share data? The privacy game gang

                      Play our privacy game and discover the value of your personal data

                      Have you tried our free courses? Question Mark sculpture

                      Take our short survey and tell us what you think

                      Free stuff to your door Classical british home door of victorian red color

                      Take your pick from our range of free books and posters

                      OU TV & Radio

                      Previous set
                      • Click: A Route 66 of the future - Ep 4
                        BBC World Service
                        Wednesday 2:32
                      • Click: A Route 66 of the future - Ep 4
                        BBC World Service
                        Wednesday 9:32
                      • Thinking Allowed: Diana
                        BBC Radio 4
                        Wednesday 16:00
                      • Airport Live, Episode 3
                        BBC Two
                        Wednesday 20:00
                      • Airport Live, Episode 4
                        BBC Two
                        Thursday 20:00
                      Next set

                      Most popular

                      Views

                      • 1
                        Take the photographic memory test
                      • 2
                        OU on the BBC: Airport Live
                      • 3
                        Design in a nutshell
                      • 4
                        Hitler's rise and fall: Timeline
                      • 5
                        20th century authors: making the connections

                      Votes

                      • 1
                        OU on the BBC: Airport Live – Episode 3
                      • 2
                        OU on the BBC: Airport Live
                      • 3
                        OU on the BBC: Click - A Route 66 of the future
                      • 4
                        What is HIV?
                      • 5
                        Cultural differences in mental health?

                      Comments

                      • 1
                        Children and happiness
                      • 2
                        What is Plate Tectonics?
                      • 3
                        Geological glossary
                      • 4
                        Writing tips: Write what you want to read
                      • 5
                        OU on the BBC: More Or Less

                      Tags

                      • climate change (374)
                      • business (278)
                      • diaries (194)
                      • bottom line (169)
                      • food (168)
                      • Rough Science (162)
                      • BBC Two (150)
                      • BBC Radio 4 (149)
                      • internet (145)
                      • BBC (136)
                      • listings (122)
                      • Scotland (121)
                      • points for debate (120)
                      • Bang goes the Theory (116)
                      • children (116)
                      • Creative Climate (116)
                      • English Civil War (115)
                      • Thinking Allowed (109)
                      • astronomy (108)
                      • religion (98)
                      • marketing (94)
                      • 20th century (94)
                      • Charles I (93)
                      • communication (92)
                      • evolution (91)
                      • research (89)
                      • sustainability (89)
                      • architecture (86)
                      • energy (83)
                      • Charles Darwin (78)
                      List view Animated Fewer tags More tags

                      What are tag clouds?

                      OpenLearn Links

                      About OpenLearn

                      • Get Started
                      • Frequently Asked Questions
                      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
                      • Contact the OpenLearn team
                      • Donate to The Open University
                      • OPML Feed

                      Browse By Subject

                      • Body & Mind
                      • Education
                      • History & The Arts
                      • Languages
                      • Money & Management
                      • Nature & Environment
                      • Science, Maths & Technology
                      • Society

                      Browse By Type

                      • Watch our Video Features
                      • Listen to Audio Programmes
                      • Engage with Interactives
                      • Try our Free Course Extracts
                      • Refresh your Study Skills
                      • Order Free Print Items
                      • Have your say in our Discussion Hubs

                      What's On

                      • TV
                      • Radio
                      • Events
                      Stay up to date: Subscribe to the OpenLearn newsletter call to action Copyrighted imageCredit: Background image Lucian Milasan | Dreamstime.com
                      Description of free items against a blue door Creative commons imageCredit: Door photo Kamal H under CC-BY image
                      The Berrill Building Copyrighted imageCredit: The Open University / Karen Parker

                      The Open University

                      © Copyright . All rights reserved.

                      +44 (0) 845 300 60 90
                      Email us

                      • Privacy and cookies
                      • Copyright
                      • Conditions of use
                      • Cymraeg
                      • Platform
                      • OpenLearn
                      • Facebook
                      • Twitter
                      • YouTube
                      /openlearn/sites/all/themes/ole/
                      http://www.open.edu/openlearn/sites/all/themes/ole/flash/tagcloud.swf
                      137172