What are terrestrial planets?

Terrestrial planets are big rocks that orbit stars, just like Earth.

Imagine you have a bag of marbles and building blocks. Terrestrial planets are like the building blocks, they're made mostly of rocky material, like dirt, sand, and stones. They’re not as big or fluffy as other kinds of planets, which might be more like giant cotton candy clouds (we'll talk about those later).

Terrestrial planets are usually closer to their star, just like how you sit close to the fire when it's cold. This means they're often warmer and have solid surfaces, so you could walk on them, or at least, bounce a marble off them!

Earth is one of the best examples of a terrestrial planet. So are Mars, Venus, and Mercury. They all have rocky land, sometimes with mountains, canyons, and even volcanoes.

If you think of planets as your favorite toys, terrestrial ones are like building blocks, strong, solid, and ready to stack up next to the fluffy cotton candy ones!