The Solar System

The solar system is made up of the Sun, the 8 planetsand 5 dwarf

planets and their 176 known moons,asteroids, comets, dust and gas. The
planets, asteroids, and comets travel around the Sun, the center of our
solar system.
Most of the bodies in the solar system travel around the Sun along nearly
circular paths or orbits, and all the planets travel about the Sun in the
anticlockwise direction (when viewed from above).
Solar system formation began billions of years ago, when gases and dust
began to come together to form the Sun, planets, and other bodies of
the solar system.
The Sun
The Sun is the closest star to Earth and is the center of our solar system.
A giant, spinning ball of very hot gas, the Sun is fueled by nuclear fusion
reactions. The light from the Sun heats our planet and makes life possible.
The Sun is also an active star that displays sunspots, solar flares,
erupting prominences, and coronal mass ejections. These phenomena,
which are all related to the Sun's magnetic field, impact our near-Earth
space environment and determine our "space weather". In about five
billion years, the Sun will evolve into a Red Giant, and eventually, a White
Dwarf star. Many cultures have had interesting myths about the Sun, in
recognition of its importance to life on Earth.

Planets
By the current count of astronomers, our solar system includes
8 planets and 5 dwarf planets. The planets were formed during the
process of solar system formation, when clumps began to form in the disk
of gas and dusk rotating about our young Sun. Eventually, only the
planets and other small bodies in the solar system remained. The four
rocky
planets
at
the
center
of
the
solar
system Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
are
known
as
the
inner
planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are all composed primarily
of gas and are known as the outer planets. Find out more about the
planets through the links below.
Dwarf Planets
In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved a new
classification scheme for planets and smaller objects in our Solar System.
Their scheme includes three classes of objects: "small solar system

bodies" (including most asteroids and comets), the much larger planets
(including Earth, Jupiter, and so on), and the new category of in-between
sized "dwarf planets".
There are currently five official dwarf planets. Pluto, formerly the smallest
of the nine "traditional" planets, was demoted to dwarf planet
status. Ceres, the largest asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars
and Jupiter, was also declared a dwarf planet. The three other (for now!)
dwarf planets are Eris, Makemake, andHaumea. Pluto, Makemake, and
Haumea orbit the Sun on the frozen fringes of our Solar System in
the Kuiper Belt. Eris, also a Trans-Neptunian Object, is even further from
the Sun.
What's the difference between regular planets and dwarf planets? As you
might guess, it's partly an issue of size, with dwarf planets being smaller.
But just how big does a planet need to be to become a full-fledged planet
instead of a dwarf? You might think the minimum size requirement is
arbitrary, but the size cutoff is actually based on other properties of the
object and its history in the Solar System.
Both planets and dwarf planets orbit the Sun, not other planets (in which
case we call them moons). Both must be large enough that their own
gravity pulls them into the shapes of spheres; this rules out numerous
smaller bodies like most asteroids, many of which have irregular shapes.
Planets clear smaller objects out of their orbitsby sucking the small bodies
into themselves or flinging them out of orbit. Dwarf planets, with their
weaker gravities, are unable to clear out their orbits.
Though there are just five dwarf planets now, their number is expected to
grow. Scientists estimate there may be 70 dwarf planets amongst outer
solar system objects that have been discovered already. Since we don't
know the actual sizes or shapes of many of the objects we've found
(because they are so far away), we can't yet determine whether they are
actually dwarf planets or not. More observations and better telescopes will
help us determine which other objects are dwarf planets. Astronomers
speculate that there may be 200 or so dwarf planets out through the
distance of the Kuiper Belt, an icy band of frozen planetoids on the edge of
our Solar System.
Asteroids
Asteroids are small bodies that are believed to be left over from the
beginning of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. They are rocky objects

with round or irregular shapes up to several hundred km across, but most

are much smaller.
More than 100,000 asteroids lie in a belt between Mars and Jupiter.These
asteroids lie in a location in the solar system where there seems to be a
jump in the spacing between the planets. Scientists think that this debris
may be the remains of an early planet, which broke up early in the solar
system. Several thousand of the largest asteroids in this belt have been
given names.
The chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth are very small! But some
do come close to Earth, like Hermes (closest approach of 777,000 km).
Meteors
Meteors are streaks of light, usually lasting just a few seconds, which
people occasionally see in the night sky. They are sometimes called
"shooting stars" or "falling stars", though they are not stars at all. Meteors
are caused by the entry of small pieces of rock, dust, or metal from space
into theatmosphere at extremely high speeds. These particles, called
"meteoroids" when they are floating around in space (think of very
small asteroids), are traveling at incredible speeds of tens of kilometers
per second (tens of thousands of miles per hour) when they streak into
the atmosphere. The incredible pressure meteoroids experience when
they collide with Earth's atmosphere shatters them, transferring energy to
atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, which then release the energy
by glowing. This glow produces the bright trails of lightin the sky we see
as meteors.
Most meteoroid particles are quite small, ranging in size from a grain of
sand to a pea-sized pebble. Almost all of them disintegrate in
the atmospherelong before reaching the ground. Very rarely, a larger
meteoroid actually survives to strike the ground, creating ameteor
crater in a huge explosion. This explosion often vaporizes whatever solid
material is left of the meteoroid after its fiery flight through the
atmosphere. Sometimes, however, pieces of the meteoroid survive and
are found in the crater or nearby. These chunks of rock or metal are called
meteorites.
Meteors are not the same thing as comets. Meteors appear briefly as they
streak through the sky. Comets are much larger objects that are actually
still out in space. Comets can form tails, and though they do change
position from night to night, they don't move fast enough for the eye to
notice; they seem to hang in place in the sky. There is a connection,

though, between some comets and some meteors. Several times each
year Earth passes across the orbit of a comet, where dust and small bits of
rock from the comet have been left behind. When this happens we can
see many meteors in a single night; sometimes as many as 100 or more
per hour! These events are called meteor showers.
Especially bright meteors are called fireballs. Some fireballs are so bright
that they can be seen in the daytime. It would be possible to see meteors
above any planet that has an atmosphere. A camera on the Mars
Exploration Rover Spirit captured a picture of meteor in the sky above
Mars in 2004!
How can you remember whether something is a meteor, a meteoroid, or
a meteorite? Here's how I do it! When they are out in space, like
asteroids, they are called meteoroids. When they are streaking through
theatmosphere as bright flashes of light, we call them meteors - which
reminds me of meteorology, which is the science concerned with weather
and the atmosphere. [Meteorology is not the science of meteors!] When
they reach the ground, we call them meteorites - which reminds me of
the stalactites and stalagmites that are found under the ground in
caves. I hope that helps you remember too!
Comets
Not long ago, many people thought that comets were a sign that
something bad was about to happen to them. People didn't understand
how objects in the sky moved, so the sight of a comet must have been
very disturbing. There are many historical records and works of art which
record the appearance of comets and link them with terrible events such
as wars or plagues.
Now we know that comets are lumps of ice and dust that periodically
come into the center of the solar system from somewhere in its outer
reaches, and that some comets make repeated trips. When comets get
close enough to the Sun, heat makes them start to evaporate. Jets of gas
and dust form long tails that we can see from Earth. These tails can
sometimes be millions of miles long.
In 1985-1986, a spacecraft called Giotto visited the most famous
comet, Halley, on Halley's most recent visit to the inner solar system. In
1994, comet Shoemaker-Levy became trapped by the gravity of Jupiter
and plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere!

In 1996 and 1997 we saw comet Hyakutake, and comet Hale-Bopp.HaleBopp was one of the brightest comets ever seen from Earth.Comet
Linear was discovered in 1999 and made its closest approach of the Sun in
July 2000. The Stardust spacecraft flew by Comet Wild 2in January 2004,
collecting samples of the comet to return to Earth. The newest comet
mission is Rosetta -- it will land on a comet namedChuryumovGerasimenko!
Now scientists have identified a class of comets known as small
comets (though they originally were just called snowballs from space!)
Would you like build your own custom comet? If you would, check out
our interactive comet animation!