Welcome to the Solar System

A solar system is made up of a star and everything that travels around it. Solar means "of the sun." Our Solar System includes the Sun, eight planets, their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, and the interplanetary medium.

The Sun, at the center of the Solar System, is a massive ball of glowing plasma that provides the gravitational pull needed to keep the system together. The planets orbit around the Sun in elliptical paths due to its gravitational force.

There are two main types of planets in the Solar System:

• Terrestrial Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. These planets are primarily composed of rock and metal and have solid surfaces.
• Gas Giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These planets are much larger and primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, with no definite solid surfaces.

Beyond the planets, the Solar System contains:

• The Kuiper Belt: A region beyond Neptune filled with icy bodies, dwarf planets like Pluto, and comets.
• The Oort Cloud: A distant, spherical shell of icy objects that marks the boundary of our Solar System.
• Asteroids: Small, rocky objects that primarily orbit the Sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
• Comets: Icy bodies that release gas and dust, forming a glowing coma and tail when they approach the Sun.

The Solar System formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a giant molecular cloud. It continues to be a subject of exploration, curiosity, and fascination, with scientists constantly discovering new objects and phenomena.

Our Star in the Solar System

• Sun

Planets in the Solar System

1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
5. Jupiter
6. Saturn
7. Uranus
8. Neptune

External Navigation

Learn more about space exploration on ISRO's official website.

Discover the mysteries of the universe on NASA's official website.

Fun Fact:

The Sun contains 99.86% of the mass in the Solar System!