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Overview of the Solar System

The solar system extends from the sun to the outer reaches of the Oort Cloud, around 15 billion kilometers from the sun. It contains the sun and everything that orbits it, including eight planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets and other small bodies. For millennia, astronomers observed the planets and other objects that moved among the fixed stars. The invention of the telescope allowed the discovery of Uranus, Neptune, and many moons. Space probes launched in recent decades have explored the planets and moons of our solar system, with Voyager 1 becoming the first and only spacecraft to leave the heliosphere.

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Marlette Nunes
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4 views1 page

Overview of the Solar System

The solar system extends from the sun to the outer reaches of the Oort Cloud, around 15 billion kilometers from the sun. It contains the sun and everything that orbits it, including eight planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets and other small bodies. For millennia, astronomers observed the planets and other objects that moved among the fixed stars. The invention of the telescope allowed the discovery of Uranus, Neptune, and many moons. Space probes launched in recent decades have explored the planets and moons of our solar system, with Voyager 1 becoming the first and only spacecraft to leave the heliosphere.

Uploaded by

Marlette Nunes
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

The solar system is made up of the sun and everything that orbits around it,

including planets, moons, asteroids, comets and meteoroids. It extends from the
sun, called Sol by the ancient Romans, and goes past the four inner planets,
through the Asteroid Belt to the four gas giants and on to the disk-shaped
Kuiper Belt and far beyond to the giant, spherical Oort Cloud and the teardrop-
shaped heliopause. Scientists estimate that the edge of the solar system is
about 9 billion miles (15 billion kilometers) from the sun.

Discovery
For millennia, astronomers have followed points of light that seemed to move
among the stars. The ancient Greeks named these planets, meaning
"wanderers." Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were known in antiquity,
and the invention of the telescope added the Asteroid Belt, Uranus, Neptune,
Pluto and many of these worlds' moons. The dawn of the space age saw
dozens of probes launched to explore our system, an adventure that continues
today. Only one spacecraft so far, Voyager 1, has crossed the threshold into
interstellar space.

The discovery of Eris kicked off a rash of new discoveries of dwarf planets, and
eventually led to the International Astronomical Union revising the definition of a
"planet." The revision changed Pluto's status from planet to dwarf planet in
2006, a decision that remains controversial especially after the New Horizons
mission found immense geological variety on the world in 2015. [Infographic:
Structure of the Solar System]
Astronomers are now hunting for another planet in our solar system, a true ninth
planet, after evidence of its existence was unveiled on Jan. 20, 2016. The so-
called "Planet Nine," as scientists are calling it, is about 10 times the mass of
Earth and 5,000 times the mass of Pluto.

Formation

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