Solar System

The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of the objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest are the eight planets, with the remainder being smaller objects, the dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies. Of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly—the natural satellites—two are larger than the smallest planet, Mercury. The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun, with the majority of the remaining mass contained in Jupiter. The four smaller inner system planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are terrestrial planets, being primarily composed of rock and metal. The four outer system planets are giant planets, being substantially more massive than the terrestrials.

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The Solar System could die one billion times earlier than thought

We may have found the first direct evidence of a ninth major planet in the Solar System | "if this pair of faint pinpricks does in fact represent a single, slow-moving object in our Solar System, we may have just got our first observational evidence of Planet 9"

Magnetism may have helped kick-start our solar system

The Solar System’s First Planets Were Made of Fire, Not Ice

The Solar System’s First Worlds Were Built From Fire, Not Ice

Ancient meteorites reveal a powerful force that helped build the Solar System

The Solar System chose fire over ice from the very beginning

Scientists discover largest new impact crater in the solar system ever—on our moon

From the start, the solar system chose fire over ice to build its first bodies

A research team used advanced geochemical dating and analysis techniques to reveal that certain carbonaceous chondrites, like the asteroid Ryugu and meteorite Ivuna, originate from celestial bodies that formed less than 2 million years after the beginning of the solar system

Exoplanets Offer Clues to What Lies Beyond Our Solar System

Is there a hidden 'Planet 9' in our solar system?

How To See The Zodiacal Light — The Solar System’s ‘False Dawn’

NASA’s Hubble, Webb Find Far-out Solar System Objects ‘Remember’ Past

On this day in space! Sept. 5, 1977: NASA launches Voyager 1 on epic journey across the solar system

This NASA-funded 'Slingshot' spacecraft idea could map minerals on planets and moons across our solar system

NASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of funding

Once the Solar System's Ninth Planet, Pluto Was Reclassified 20 Years Ago. Here's Why Planetary Scientists and the Public Alike Love the Small, Icy Body

‘Exciting’ Earth-Like Planet Found Close To The Solar System

Japanese scientists are readying a mission to Mars’ moons to retrieve samples that may unlock the origins of the solar system and life on Earth