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 ...
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.
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.
Raw Images – NASA Solar System Exploration
2023年9月21日 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.
In Depth | Earth – NASA Solar System Exploration
With a radius of 3,959 miles (6,371 kilometers), Earth is the biggest of the terrestrial planets and the fifth largest planet overall. From an average distance of 93 million miles (150 million kilometers), Earth is exactly one astronomical unit away from the Sun because one astronomical unit (abbreviated as AU), is the distance from the Sun to ...
In Depth | Venus – NASA Solar System Exploration
The planet is nearly as big around as Earth – 7,521 miles (12,104 kilometers) across, versus 7,926 miles (12,756 kilometers) for Earth. From Earth, Venus is the brightest object in the night sky after our own Moon.
10 Things, Dec. 4: Awe-Inspiring Jupiter Images Not to Be Missed
2017年12月4日 · NASA's Juno mission has been exploring Jupiter since July 2016 with a special passenger on board: JunoCam, an instrument designed to take spectacular close-up color images of the largest planet in our solar system.