In Depth | Our Solar System - NASA Solar System Exploration
The planetary system we call home is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. 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 ...
In Depth | Sun – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way, bringing with it the planets, asteroids, comets, and other objects in our solar system. Our solar system is moving with an average velocity of 450,000 miles per hour (720,000 kilometers per hour).
What is a Planet? | Planets – NASA Solar System Exploration
Researchers have found hundreds of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, that reside outside our solar system; there may be billions of exoplanets in the Milky Way Galaxy alone, and some may be habitable (have conditions favorable to life).
the matter we can see—was found. After all, our sun, carrying the planets with it, orbits the Milky Way galaxy with a speed of 200/km sec. A Milky Way surprise! Imagine scientists’ surprise, however, when they found that there are individual stars and concentrations of gas in our galaxy at greater distance from the luminous nucleus than our ...
The Usual Suspects: a Rogues Gallery of Asteroids, Comets and …
Nov 15, 2018 · Observations suggest it had been wandering through the Milky Way, unattached to any star system, for hundreds of millions of years before its chance encounter with our star system. In any case, we’ll probably never get a close look; ‘Oumuamua is …
In Depth | Pluto – NASA Solar System Exploration
Dwarf planet Pluto 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 icy worlds, which formed early in the history of our solar system about 4.5 billion years ago.
10 Facts about the Pioneer Spacecraft - NASA Solar System …
Sep 30, 2022 · The spacecraft snapped about 300 photos during a flyby that brought it within 81,000 miles (about 130,000 kilometers) of the giant planet’s cloud tops. On Dec. 4, 1973, NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft sent back images of Jupiter of ever-increasing size.
voir of comets and larger bodies resides beyond the planets. 1950 — Astronomer Jan Oort theorizes that a vast population of comets may exist in a huge cloud surrounding our solar system. 1951 — Astronomer Gerard Kuiper predicts the existence of a belt of icy objects just beyond the orbit of Neptune.
RPS 3D Viewer - NASA Solar System Exploration
Jan 9, 2025 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.
What Scientists Found After Sifting Through Dust in the Solar System
Mar 12, 2019 · By studying this dust — what it’s made of, where it comes from, and how it moves through space — scientists seek clues to understanding the birth of planets and the composition of all that we see in the solar system.