What are major planets?

Major planets are big space rocks that orbit around the Sun, just like Earth does, but they're much bigger and more special.

Imagine you're playing with toy cars in a big round track. The Sun is like the center of the track, and the major planets are the fastest, biggest toy cars zooming around it. Some go really fast, some take longer to circle all the way around, but they’re all important because they’re really big compared to other space rocks.

Major planets have a few rules:

• They're big enough that their gravity keeps them round.
• They’re strong enough to clear out most of the space around them, like sweeping up crumbs after a snack.
• They orbit the Sun, not another planet or rock.

Think of Earth as one of those major planets. It's just one of eight big space rocks in our neighborhood that follow these rules and zoom around the Sun, and we're lucky enough to live on one of them!