About this puzzle
This list covers our whole neighborhood in space. All eight planets are here, along with Pluto and the term dwarf planet, moons that scientists find especially exciting, like Europa, Titan, and giant Ganymede, plus the asteroid belt, the Kuiper Belt, comets, meteors, and the Sun's own sunspots and solar flares. A few big ideas, orbit, gravity, axis, and eclipse, tie it together so the puzzle reads like a quick tour from the inner planets outward.
Use this solar system word search to kick off a space unit, as a review before a planets quiz, or on the night of a meteor shower while you wait for dark. It suits curious kids and adults alike. The notes below are worth reading after solving, since each one shares a real detail, like the planet that spins on its side or the moon with lakes of liquid methane.
The 32 words in this puzzle
Every word, with a short note. Handy for teaching the vocabulary before or after solving.
In every version (12)
- Comet
- Comets are lumps of ice, dust, and rock. As one nears the Sun, its ice turns to gas and forms a glowing cloud and tails that always point away from the Sun.
- Earth
- Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only world known to have life. It is also the only planet known to have oceans of liquid water on its surface.
- Jupiter
- Jupiter is the largest planet, with more than twice the mass of all the other planets combined. Its Great Red Spot is a giant storm wider than Earth.
- Mars
- Mars looks red because its dust is rich in iron oxide, essentially rust. It is home to Olympus Mons, a volcano about two and a half times as tall as Mount Everest.
- Mercury
- Mercury is the smallest planet and the closest to the Sun. With almost no atmosphere to hold heat, it swings from about 800 degrees Fahrenheit by day to around minus 290 at night.
- Moon
- Earth's Moon most likely formed from debris after a Mars-sized body collided with the young Earth. The same side always faces us because the Moon is tidally locked.
- Neptune
- Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun and has the fastest winds measured in the solar system. It was located in 1846 after mathematicians predicted where it should be.
- Orbit
- An orbit is the curved path one object takes around another. Earth needs about 365 and a quarter days to orbit the Sun, which is why we add a leap day every four years.
- Pluto
- Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006. When the New Horizons spacecraft flew past in 2015, it revealed a huge heart-shaped region, partly covered by a plain of frozen nitrogen.
- Saturn
- Saturn's bright rings are made mostly of chunks of water ice, from tiny grains to boulders. The planet is so low in density that it is less dense than water.
- Uranus
- Uranus is tipped on its side, with its axis tilted about 98 degrees. It was the first planet discovered with a telescope, found by William Herschel in 1781.
- Venus
- Venus is the hottest planet because its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere traps heat. It also spins backward compared with most planets, and one Venus day is longer than its year.
Added in Medium and Hard (8)
- Asteroid Belt
- The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter. Its rocky objects are so spread out that spacecraft cross it safely, and together they weigh far less than our Moon.
- Crater
- A crater is a bowl-shaped hollow made when an asteroid or comet slams into a surface. The Moon and Mercury are covered in them because they have no weather to wear them away.
- Dwarf Planet
- A dwarf planet orbits the Sun and is massive enough to be round but has not cleared its orbit of other objects. Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris were the first five recognized.
- Eclipse
- A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth. The Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon but roughly 400 times farther away, so both look similar in size.
- Gravity
- Gravity is the pull between objects with mass. The Sun holds about 99.8 percent of the solar system's mass, so its gravity keeps everything else in orbit.
- Meteor
- A meteor is the streak of light made when a space rock burns up in Earth's atmosphere. In space it is a meteoroid, and a piece that lands on the ground is a meteorite.
- Rings
- All four giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, have rings. Saturn's are by far the brightest, while the others are thin and dark and were discovered much later.
- Sunspot
- Sunspots are darker, cooler patches on the Sun's surface caused by strong magnetic fields. The number of sunspots rises and falls in a cycle that lasts about 11 years.
Added in Hard (12)
- Axis
- An axis is the imaginary line a planet spins around. Earth's axis is tilted about 23.5 degrees, and that tilt is what gives us the seasons.
- Ceres
- Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt and the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system. NASA's Dawn spacecraft orbited it from 2015 to 2018.
- Charon
- Charon is Pluto's largest moon and is about half as wide as Pluto. The two are so close in size that they circle a point in space between them.
- Europa
- Europa is one of Jupiter's four large moons, discovered by Galileo in 1610. Scientists think a salty ocean lies beneath its icy crust, making it a top target in the search for life.
- Ganymede
- Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moons, is the largest moon in the solar system. It is bigger than the planet Mercury and is the only moon known to have its own magnetic field.
- Gas Giant
- Jupiter and Saturn are called gas giants because they are made mostly of hydrogen and helium. They have no solid surface where a spacecraft could land.
- Great Red Spot
- The Great Red Spot is a giant storm on Jupiter that astronomers have watched for more than 150 years. It is wider than Earth, though it has been slowly shrinking.
- Kuiper Belt
- The Kuiper Belt is a vast ring of icy objects beyond Neptune, including Pluto. Many comets that circle the Sun in less than about 20 years are thought to come from there.
- Oort Cloud
- The Oort Cloud is thought to be a huge, distant shell of icy objects surrounding the solar system. No one has seen it directly, but many long-period comets are believed to come from there.
- Solar Flare
- A solar flare is a sudden, powerful burst of energy from the Sun. Strong flares can disrupt radio signals on Earth, and the solar storms that come with them can create bright auroras.
- Titan
- Titan is Saturn's largest moon and is bigger than the planet Mercury. It is the only moon with a thick atmosphere, and it has lakes of liquid methane and ethane.
- Triton
- Triton is Neptune's largest moon. It orbits backward, opposite to the way Neptune spins, and Voyager 2 spotted geyser-like plumes rising from its icy surface in 1989.
A few facts to share while you solve
- Sunlight takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the Sun to Earth.
- About 1.3 million Earths could fit inside the Sun.
- Voyager 1, launched in 1977, crossed into interstellar space in 2012, becoming the first spacecraft to leave the Sun's bubble of solar wind.
Four versions of this puzzle
Pick a version with the buttons above the grid. Each one has its own grid and answer key, and your progress on each is saved separately in this browser.
| Version | Words | Grid | Directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 12 | 11 × 11 | The 12 most familiar words, reading forward across and down. |
| Medium | 20 | 14 × 14 | Twenty words across, down and diagonally. No backwards words. |
| Hard | 32 | 17 × 17 | Every word, in all eight directions including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. |
| Large print | 12 | 10 × 10 | The 12 most familiar words on a small grid with big letters. No backwards words. |
Hard and large print versions
Hard solar system word search: all 32 words on a 17 × 17 grid, hidden forward, backward, up, down and along both diagonals, with filler letters borrowed from the word list. Print it without the word list for an extra challenge. Play the hard version, or see all hard word searches.
Large print solar system word search: the 12 most familiar words on a 10 × 10 grid, printed with big letters and a big word list, and no backwards words. Play the large print version, or see all large print word searches.
Printing this word search
Press Print / PDF above the puzzle. You get a clean one-page sheet with the title, the grid, a word list with tick boxes, and optional name and date lines. The answer key prints on a second page. Prefer a file? Download it as a PDF or an image to print later or drop into a worksheet. Whatever version is showing on screen is the one that prints, and the large print version prints with bigger letters.
How to play online
- Find a word from the list in the grid. Scanning for its first letter is the quickest way.
- Drag across the word from its first letter to its last. On a phone, you can also tap the first letter, then the last.
- Found words get highlighted and crossed off. Stuck? Hint circles the first letter of a word you haven’t found.
Read the full guide to solving word searches, with tips that make big grids much faster.
Questions and answers
Is Pluto a planet in this puzzle?
Pluto is included, but as a dwarf planet. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union decided that a full planet must clear its orbit of other objects, which Pluto has not done, since it shares the Kuiper Belt with many icy bodies. The puzzle includes the term Dwarf Planet so students can talk about why.
What age is this solar system word search for?
It works for about third grade and up, including adults. Planet names are familiar to most young kids, so they make good starting words on easy mode. Terms like Kuiper Belt, Eclipse, and Gravity line up with upper elementary and middle school space units.
How many planets are in the solar system word search?
All eight planets are in the grid: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The rest of the list covers dwarf planets, moons of other planets, our own Moon, features of the Sun, small bodies like comets and meteors, and the forces and events that shape the solar system.
Is there an answer key for this solar system word search?
Yes. Choose Print / PDF above the puzzle and keep “Add an answer key page” ticked. The key prints on its own page, with every word highlighted. While playing online, Show answers outlines any words you haven’t found yet.
Can I print copies for my class or group?
Yes. Every puzzle on BetterWordSearch is free to print for personal, classroom, library and homeschool use. Print as many copies as you need. To change the words or make several different versions of the grid, use the word search maker.
What changes between Easy, Medium, Hard and Large print?
Easy hides the 12 most familiar words, reading left to right and top to bottom. Medium uses 20 words and adds diagonals. Hard hides all 32 words in every direction, including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. Large print uses the same words as Easy on a small grid and prints with big letters.
