Eyewitness Planets

This picture-led reference book takes young readers on a visual tour of Earth, its neighborhood in space, and the wider Solar System. Full-color photographs and illustrations follow the journey from Mercury out to Neptune, covering rocky planets, gas giants, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets and other bodies.

Readers learn where comets come from and why Pluto now counts as a dwarf planet. They can also explore the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, a zone of rock fragments left over from the planets' formation, along with Saturn's icy rings and Jupiter's many moons. The book also looks at modern space exploration equipment and at the scientists, both past and present, behind major discoveries.

This revised edition has a fresh design, new photographs, updated diagrams, statistics, timelines and information, and up to 20 percent new images. A new eyewitness feature includes first-hand accounts from experts in the field.

The book is written for curious readers aged 9 and up and is also intended for teachers, parents and librarians. It belongs to DK's Eyewitness series, which has sold more than 50 million copies over 30 years. Other titles in the series cover the Amazon rainforest, climate change and the Titanic.