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solar system
Table of Contents
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Images, Videos & Interactives
solar system solar system orbits
Understand the relative size of the Sun, the Moon, and other solar system objects
solar system to scale Jovian planets Gaspra Comet Wild 2
Hear about the band of dust and debris left by comets, which are visible as meteors (shooting stars)
Discover how the solar system, which started as a shapeless spherical blob ended up being flat
For Students
solar system to scale
solar system summary
Quizzes
View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).
Astronomy and Space Quiz
The orbits of the planets and other elements of the solar system, including asteroids, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, comet
Space Odyssey
Ursa major constellation illustration art. (Big Dipper) stars, space, night sky)
Stars: Explosions in Space
Saturn. Saturn and its rings. Second largest planet of the solar system. Space Art
Planets and the Earth’s Moon
Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.
All About Astronomy
Related Questions
Read Next
Specially designed Cassini orbits place Earth and Cassini on opposite sides of Saturn's rings, a geometry known as occultation. Cassini conducted the first radio occultation observation of Saturn's rings on May 3, 2005. (solar system, planets)
10 Places to Visit in the Solar System
Background: abstract bubble planets with clouds. astrology, astronomy, atomosphere, big bang, bubbles, fantasy, future, galaxy, universe, stars
9 Ghostly Planets
Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles
Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?
Solar system illustration. (planets; sun)
Why Are Planets Round?
Colorful winter sunset
What's the Difference Between a Solstice and an Equinox?
Discover
Charles Darwin, carbon print photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1868.
What Darwin Got Right (and Wrong) About Evolution
The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)
New Seven Wonders of the World
game and gambling, gaming machines, chess playing Turk, design by Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734 - 1804), built by Christoph Mechel, mechanical turk
The Mechanical Turk: AI Marvel or Parlor Trick?
Close-up of crocodile eye; location unknown (rainforest, reptile).
What’s the Difference Between Alligators and Crocodiles?
Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)
All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained
Colorful winter sunset
What's the Difference Between a Solstice and an Equinox?
Car with a pickle design in the Zagreb Red Bull Soapbox Race, Zagreb, Croatia, September 14, 2019. (games, races, sports)
10 Unusual Sports

solar system: Related Content

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News •

Spiral structure discovered at the edge of our solar system can't be explained • Mar. 16, 2025, 1:01 AM ET (Earth.com)
128 New Moons Found Orbiting Saturn in Mindblowing Discovery • Mar. 12, 2025, 2:40 AM ET (ScienceAlert)
Seven planets share the sky this week, but the parade ends soon • Feb. 28, 2025, 6:29 AM ET (NBC)
Rare planetary alignment visible this week: Thai astronomers • Feb. 27, 2025, 4:40 AM ET (The Star)

Photos and Videos

solar system
orbits
solar system to scale
Jovian planets
Gaspra
Comet Wild 2
solar system
Saturn
Images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope of four protoplanetary disks around young stars in the Orion Nebula.
Nicolaus Copernicus: heliocentric system
Understand the relative size of the Sun, the Moon, and other solar system objects
Hear about the band of dust and debris left by comets, which are visible as meteors (shooting stars)
Discover how the solar system, which started as a shapeless spherical blob ended up being flat
View an animation of a brown dwarf surrounded by a swirling disk of planet-building dust
Copernicus's revolutionary theory: The Sun as the center
See All Videos, Images and Interactives →

Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler
German astronomer
Galileo
Galileo
Italian philosopher, astronomer and mathematician
Harold C. Urey
American chemist
Laplace, Pierre-Simon, marquis de
Pierre-Simon, marquis de Laplace
French scientist and mathematician
Gerard Peter Kuiper
American astronomer
Sir Harold Jeffreys
Sir Harold Jeffreys
British astronomer and geophysicist
Jean Richer
French astronomer
Johann Elert Bode
German astronomer
Audouin Dollfus
French astronomer

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).
Astronomy and Space Quiz
Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.
All About Astronomy
Planet Neptune
Giants of Our Solar System
Ursa major constellation illustration art. (Big Dipper) stars, space, night sky)
Stars: Explosions in Space
Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.
All About Astronomy
Encyclopaedia Britannica thistle graphic to be used with a Mendel/Consumer quiz in place of a photograph.
36 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Science Quizzes
The orbits of the planets and other elements of the solar system, including asteroids, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, comet
Space Odyssey
Saturn. Saturn and its rings. Second largest planet of the solar system. Space Art
Planets and the Earth’s Moon
View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).
Astronomy and Space Quiz
Demystified
Remarkable new details of Pluto's largest moon Charon are revealed in this image from New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), taken late on July 13, 2015 from a distance of 289,000 miles
Why Is Pluto No Longer a Planet?
Solar system illustration. (planets; sun)
Why Are Planets Round?
Colorful winter sunset
What's the Difference Between a Solstice and an Equinox?