In Depth | Our Solar System - NASA Solar System Exploration
Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity – the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; dwarf planets such as …
The Sun By the Numbers – NASA Solar System Exploration
Jan 9, 2025 · The Sun is the star at the heart of our solar system. Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything – from the biggest planets to the smallest bits of debris – …
In Depth | Mars - NASA Solar System Exploration
When the solar system settled into its current layout about 4.5 billion years ago, Mars formed when gravity pulled swirling gas and dust in to become the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars is …
What is a Planet? | Planets – NASA Solar System Exploration
Some astronomers argued that location (context) is important, especially in understanding the formation and evolution of the solar system. One idea is to simply define a planet as a natural …
In Depth | Sun – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Sun is the largest object in our solar system. Its diameter is about 865,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers). Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything from the biggest …
In Depth | Neptune – NASA Solar System Exploration
Dark, cold, and whipped by supersonic winds, ice giant Neptune is the eighth and most distant planet in our solar system. More than 30 times as far from the Sun as Earth, Neptune is the …
In Depth | Saturn – NASA Solar System Exploration
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest planet in our solar system. Like fellow gas giant Jupiter, Saturn is a massive ball made mostly of hydrogen and helium. Saturn …
In Depth | Eris - NASA Solar System Exploration
Dwarf planet Eris is a member of a group of objects that orbit in a disc-like zone beyond the orbit of Neptune called the Kuiper Belt. This distant realm is populated with thousands of miniature …
In Depth | Earth's Moon – NASA Solar System Exploration
The craters themselves, which have been preserved for billions of years, provide an impact history for the Moon and other bodies in the inner solar system. If you looked in the right …
In Depth | Jupiter – NASA Solar System Exploration
Jupiter is the fifth planet from our Sun and is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system – more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined. Jupiter's stripes and swirls are …