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.

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.

Our solar system’s small bodies – asteroids, comets, and meteors – pack big surprises. These chunks of rock, ice, and metal are leftovers from the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

The April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean and will cross North America, passing over Mexico, United States, and Canada. Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at …

NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.

Jan 9, 2025 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.

Apr 24, 2025 · NASA Science missions circle the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, and many other destinations within our Solar System, including spacecraft that look out even further into our universe. The Science Fleet depicts the scope of NASA’s activity and how our missions have permeated throughout the solar system.

Voyage is a 1 to 10-billion scale model of the Solar System that was permanently installed in Washington, D.C., in October 2001. The real Solar System is exactly 10 billion times larger than the Voyage model. On this scale the Sun is about the size of a large grapefruit. The Earth is 15 meters (50 feet) away and smaller than the head of a pin.

NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.

It has been necessary to model objects in the solar system. Recent history has changed this to a certain degree, since missions have been sent to the moon and Mars that provide opportunity for direct visual inspection of, at least, part of the surface of these neighbors.