In Depth | Our Solar System – NASA Solar System Exploration
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 meteoroids.
In Depth | Sun – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Sun is the largest object in our solar system. Its diameter is about 865,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers). Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything from the biggest planets to the smallest bits of debris in orbit around it.
NASA Voyager 2 Could Be Nearing Interstellar Space
2018年10月5日 · NASA's Voyager 2 probe, currently on a journey toward interstellar space, has detected an increase in cosmic rays that originate outside our solar system. Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 is a little less than 11 billion miles (about 17.7 billion kilometers) from Earth, or more than 118 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
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).
Rings | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
Cassini found that water jets from the moon Enceladus provide much of the material in Saturn’s E-ring, a diffuse ring outside of the bright, main rings. Key Points Cassini studied features in Saturn’s rings called “spokes,” which can be longer than the diameter of Earth.
Voyage of Discovery- Walks students through a scale model of the Solar System over a 600 meter distance, beyond which comets originate. Elliptical Orbits - Draws an elliptical orbit using simple tools.
Planet Compare – NASA Solar System Exploration
2024年12月19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 | Kuiper Belt – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Kuiper Belt is a large region in the cold, outer reaches of our solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune. It's sometimes called the "third zone" of the solar system. Astronomers think there are millions of small, icy objects in this region – including hundreds of thousands that are larger than 60 miles (100 kilometers) wide.
A Major Variation on a Theme - NASA Solar System Exploration
2011年7月17日 · Roussos and colleagues point out that three intense solar events collided with Saturn’s magnetosphere and actually generated a temporary new radiation belt outside Tethys’ orbit, a moon orbiting at the outer edge of Saturn’s permanent ion radiation belts.
Moons | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
Habitability Outside the Habitability Zone. Haze-enshrouded Titan is Saturn’s largest moon and the solar system’s second-largest, and an all-around exceptional place. Titan is the only known world other than Earth where any sort of liquid collects on its surface.