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10 Need-to-Know Things About The Solar System

Our solar system is located in the outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. It consists of the Sun and everything bound to it by gravity, including 8 planets, dozens of moons, and millions of smaller objects like asteroids and comets. Beyond our solar system, thousands of other planetary systems have been discovered orbiting other stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

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Jeje Nut
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54 views

10 Need-to-Know Things About The Solar System

Our solar system is located in the outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. It consists of the Sun and everything bound to it by gravity, including 8 planets, dozens of moons, and millions of smaller objects like asteroids and comets. Beyond our solar system, thousands of other planetary systems have been discovered orbiting other stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

Uploaded by

Jeje Nut
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Our planetary system is located in an outer spiral arm of

the Milky Way galaxy.

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Storms

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 Pluto, dozens of moons and millions
of asteroids, comets and meteoroids. Beyond our own
solar system, we have discovered thousands of planetary
systems orbiting other stars in the Milky Way.

Go farther. Explore Our Solar System in Depth ›

10 Need-to-Know Things About the Solar System


1
ONE OF BILLIONS

Our solar system is made up of a star, eight planets and countless


smaller bodies such as dwarf planets, asteroids and comets.

2
MEET ME IN THE ORION ARM

Our solar system orbits the center of the Milky Way Galaxy at about
515,000 mph (828,000 kph). We’re in one of the galaxy’s four spiral
arms.

3
A LONG WAY ROUND

It takes our solar system about 230 million years to complete one orbit
around the galactic center.

4
SPIRALING THROUGH SPACE

There are three general kinds of galaxies: elliptical, spiral and


irregular. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy.

5
GOOD ATMOSPHERE(S)

Our solar system is a region of space. It has no atmosphere. But it


contains many worlds—including Earth—with many kinds of
atmospheres.

6
MANY MOONS

The planets of our solar system—and even some asteroids—hold more


than 150 moons in their orbits.

7
RING WORLDS
The four giant planets—and at least one asteroid—have rings. None are
as spectacular as Saturn’s gorgeous rings.

8
LEAVING THE CRADLE

More than 300 robotic spacecraft have explored destinations beyond


Earth orbit, including 24 astronauts who orbited the moon.

9
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT

Our solar system is the only one known to support life. So far, we only
know of life on Earth, but we’re looking for more everywhere we can.

10
FAR-RANGING ROBOTS

NASA’s Voyager 1 is the only spacecraft so far to leave our solar


system. Four other spacecraft will eventually hit interstellar space.

FAQ: What Spacecraft are Headed into


Interstellar Space?
Five spacecraft have achieved enough velocity to
eventually travel beyond the boundaries of our solar
system. Two of them reached the unexplored space
between the stars after several decades in space.

 Voyager 1 went interstellar in 2012 and Voyager


2 joined it in 2018. Both spacecraft are still in
communication with Earth. Both spacecraft launched in
1977.
 NASA's New Horizons spacecraft—currently
exploring the an icy region beyond Neptune called the
Kuiper Belt—eventually will leave our solar system.
 Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 also will ultimately travel
silently among the stars. The spacecraft used up their
power supplies decades ago.

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