What is the Solar System?

The solar system is part of the "observable universe," the region of space that humans can actually or theoretically observe with the aid of technology.

The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it.

The sun with planets of the solar system in front of it to show their relative sizes.

Image: By NASA - https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/2283/our-solar-system-poster-version-a/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90192998

In simple terms, it is an assemblage consisting of the Sun—an average star in the Milky Way Galaxy—and those bodies orbiting around it: 8 (formerly 9) planets with more than 210 known planetary satellites (moons); many asteroids, some with their own satellites; comets and other icy bodies; and vast reaches of highly tenuous gas and dust known as the interplanetary medium.

You have completed 0% of the lesson
0%