1. What keeps the Moon going around the Earth without flying away?

The Moon is held in orbit by Earth's gravity. Earth's gravity pulls the Moon toward it, but the Moon also moves forward fast enough that it keeps missing the Earth. So instead of falling or flying away, it keeps going around the Earth in a stable path.

2. Why do the planets go around the Sun in the same direction?

All the planets formed from a giant spinning cloud of gas and dust. As this cloud collapsed under gravity, it started to spin faster and flattened into a disk. The planets formed from this spinning disk, so they all ended up moving around the Sun in the same direction.

3. If Earth stopped moving around the Sun, what would happen?

If Earth stopped orbiting the Sun, the Sun’s gravity would pull Earth straight toward it. Earth would no longer have seasons or a regular year. Eventually, it would crash into the Sun. Luckily, Earth won’t stop like that on its own.

4. Do all planets move at the same speed?

No, they don’t. Planets closer to the Sun move faster in their orbits, and planets farther away move slower. This happens because the Sun’s gravity is stronger when you're closer to it, which makes the nearby planets move faster to stay in orbit.

5. Why do some planets spin really fast while others spin slowly?

The speed of a planet’s spin comes from how it formed. If a planet collected a lot of spinning material or was hit by other objects while forming, it could end up spinning faster. Others may have formed more calmly or were slowed down by big impacts or strong forces like tidal friction, making them spin slower.