With images selected by acknowledged expert Robert Harvey, The Solar System begins by examining the Sun, the center of the solar system, and proceeds outwards to the planets that are furthest from the Sun--Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. The book also includes chapters on asteroids, comets, and smaller planets. Readers will gain expert insight into Venus, the hottest planet, with surface temperatures of up to 752 F; Mars, known as the "Red Planet" because of the large quantities of iron oxide (rust) in its soil; Ceres, the solar system's largest asteroid and also a dwarf planet, with a diameter of just under 621 miles; and giant Saturn, whose core is surrounded by a layer of metallic hydrogen and is encircled in a gaseous outer atmosphere.