JOURNEY THROUGH THE SOLAR SYSTEM

This year's trail takes you on a voyage through the solar system.

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Taking place between 6 and 11 June, the Cheltenham Science Festival is one of the biggest celebrations of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects in the UK. This year, The Week Junior Science+Nature has created 10 boards that will be scattered around the festival site for you to find, taking you on a journey through the solar system. All you have to do is find the boards and turn to page 43 in this magazine to answer the questions. Don't worry if you're not going to the festival - you can still play along. Here's a round-up of all the planets (and one star) on the boards. To find out more about Cheltenham Science Festival go to cheltenhamfestivals.com/science

CHELTENHAM

Science Festival

The Sun

A near-perfect sphere of gas, the Sun is the beating heart of our solar system. The Sun is so big that it contains 99.86% of the solar system's entire mass.

As the closest star to Earth, it is the solar system's largest and hottest object. The Sun's core reaches temperatures of 15 million C, which makes its surface temperature of 5,973°C seem almost chilly in comparison.

Mercury

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. That means if you were to stand on its surface, the Sun would appear three times larger and seven times brighter than it does on Earth. However, despite surface temperatures of more than 400°C, Mercury is not the solar system's hottest planet. This is because it has no atmosphere to hold onto the heat, and temperatures plunge as low as - 180°C at night. The smallest planet in the solar system, Mercury has no rings and no Moons.