THE EARTH'S NEAREST NEIGHBORS 



35 



Neptune 



FIG. 9. RELATIVE DISTANCES OF SOME OF THE PLANETS 



1. Which of these planets comes nearest to the earth? 2. How far 

 away is Jupiter when it is nearest to the earth? 3. Light passes from the sun 

 to the earth in about eight minutes. How many hours does it take to reach 

 Neptune? 



the earth's, and they lie one outside another, with the sun 

 almost at the center. 



Planets are never seen in the northern part of the sky, but 

 are always in the same belt from east to west in which the 

 sun and moon are seen. If all the planets revolved about 



