Home › Solar System
The Solar System at a glance
At the centre is the Sun. Around it orbit eight planets, five dwarf planets, hundreds of moons and countless small lumps of rock and ice. This page is the directory of all the fact files. If you would rather fly there yourself, open the 3D model.
The Sun
Planets
MercuryMercury is the smallest planet in our Solar System and the closest to the Sun.
VenusVenus is the hottest planet in the Solar System – even hotter than Mercury, because of an extreme greenhouse …
EarthEarth is the only known place in the universe with confirmed life.
MarsMars is home to the largest known volcano in the Solar System: Olympus Mons, almost three times as high as …
JupiterJupiter is the largest planet – more than twice as massive as all the other planets put together.
SaturnSaturn has the most impressive ring system in the Solar System, visible even through a small telescope.
UranusUranus lies almost completely “on its side” – its rotation axis is tilted by 98°, probably because of a huge …
NeptuneNeptune was predicted by mathematical calculations in 1846 before it was observed – a triumph of celestial …Dwarf planets
CeresCeres is the largest body in the Asteroid Belt and contains about a third of its total mass.
PlutoPluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 and was considered the ninth planet for 76 years – in 2006 the …HaumeaHaumea spins once in just under 4 hours – faster than any other known body of its size.MakemakeMakemake was discovered in 2005 shortly after Easter and named after the creator god of the Rapa Nui (Easter …ErisEris is almost as big as Pluto but about 27% more massive – its discovery in 2005 triggered the redefinition …Belts and boundaries
Asteroid BeltThe Asteroid Belt lies between Mars and Jupiter (2.2 to 3.2 AU) and contains more than a million asteroids …Kuiper BeltThe Kuiper Belt begins beyond Neptune (30 AU) and extends to about 50 AU – a vast disc of icy bodies, about …HeliosphereThe Sun constantly blows a stream of charged particles out into space: the solar wind.Oort CloudRight at the edge of the Solar System, researchers suspect there is a gigantic sphere of trillions of icy …Jupiter's TrojansTwo huge swarms of asteroids share Jupiter's orbit: one runs 60° ahead of it, the other 60° behind.Moons
- Moon
- Io
- Europa
- Ganymede
- Callisto
- Titan
- Enceladus
- Rhea
- Phobos
- Deimos
- Himalia
- Elara
- Pasiphae
- Carme
- Mimas
- Tethys
- Dione
- Iapetus
- Hyperion
- Miranda
- Ariel
- Umbriel
- Titania
- Oberon
- Triton
- Nereid
- Charon
- Amalthea
- Pan
- Prometheus
- Janus
- Epimetheus
- Phoebe
- Puck
- Proteus
- Styx
- Nix
- Kerberos
- Hydra
- Dysnomia
- Namaka
- Hiʻiaka
- MK2
Comets and interstellar visitors
Space probes and missions
- Voyager 1
- Voyager 2
- New Horizons
- Cassini-Huygens
- Apollo 11
- International Space Station (ISS)
- James Webb Space Telescope
- Juno
- Parker Solar Probe
- Rosetta
- Galileo
- Pioneer 10
- Pioneer 11
- Lucy
- Europa Clipper
- JUICE
- BepiColombo
- Artemis I
Beyond the Solar System
This site is free and has no banner ads. Here is how you can support it