Solar System
Our Cosmic Neighborhood
Our solar system consists of the Sun and everything that orbits around it, including eight planets, their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, and other small bodies. It formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a collapsing molecular cloud.
Structure of the Solar System
The solar system extends far beyond the orbit of Neptune. The inner solar system contains the rocky terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars), while the outer solar system contains the gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn) and ice giants (Uranus, Neptune).
The Asteroid Belt
The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter and contains millions of rocky objects. The largest object in the belt is the dwarf planet Ceres. Despite what movies suggest, the asteroids are spread far apart and spacecraft fly through safely.
The Kuiper Belt
Beyond Neptune lies the Kuiper Belt, a region of icy bodies that includes dwarf planets like Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea. This region extends from about 30 to 50 AU from the Sun.