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The Solar System consists of the Sun and the other celestial objects gravitationally bound to it: the eight planets, their 165 known moons, five currently identified dwarf planets (including Pluto) and their four known moons, and billions of small bodies. This last category includes asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets, meteoroids and interplanetary dust. In broad terms, the charted regions of the Solar System consist of the Sun, four terrestrial inner planets, an asteroid belt composed of small rocky bodies, four gas giant outer planets, and a second belt, called the Kuiper belt, composed of icy objects. Beyond the Kuiper belt lies the scattered disc, the heliopause, and ultimately the hypothetical Oort cloud. In order of their distances from the Sun, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Six of the eight planets are in turn orbited by natural satellites, usually termed "moons" after Earth's Moon, and each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other particles. All the planets except Earth are named after gods and goddesses from Greco-Roman mythology. The five dwarf planets are Pluto, Makemake, and Haumea, the three largest known Kuiper belt objects; Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt; and Eris, the largest known object in the scattered disc.
False-color detail of Jupiter's atmosphere, imaged by Voyager 1, showing the Great Red Spot and a passing white oval. The wavy cloud pattern to the left of the Red Spot is a region of extraordinarily complex and variable wave motion. To give a sense of Jupiter's scale, the white oval storm directly below the Great Red Spot is approximately the same diameter as Earth.
- ...that Yogi Rock (pictured) is a rock found on Mars by the Mars Pathfinder mission that looks surprisingly like Yogi Bear's head?
- ...that the Kuiper crater in the Kuiper quadrangle, named after after Dutch American astronomer Gerard Kuiper, has the highest albedo recorded on Mercury?
- ...that 6Q0B44E, a recently discovered satellite of Earth, is thought to be a large piece of space debris?
- ...that 17th century philosopher Cesare Cremonini refused to look at the Moon's mountains through Galileo's telescope, because Aristotle had proved the Moon was a perfect sphere?
- ...that the Caloris Basin on Mercury, one of the largest impact basins in the Solar System, is surrounded by a series of geological formations believed to have been produced by the basin's ejecta?
- ...that Kordylewski clouds are large concentrations of dust that orbit Earth at the distance of the Moon?
- ...that no viable solution has yet been found to counteract radiation from space, which is a serious threat to astronauts on any future mission to Mars?
- ...that Claudia Alexander was the last project manager of NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter?
- ...that the Hoba meteorite is the largest known meteorite ever found on earth?
- ...that there is no widely accepted explanation for geographic features called Carolina bays, but that meteors may be the cause?
- ...that the Oort cloud, a postulated spherical cloud of comets around the Sun, is thought to be the origin of comets in the Solar System?
- ...that the Paragould Meteorite is the third-largest meteorite ever discovered in North America?
- November 15: India's flag landed on Moon
- November 14: India's moon craft reaches final lunar orbit
- November 12: NASA calls end to Mars Phoenix mission
- November 9: Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 enters moon orbit
- October 29: Mars orbiter finds widespread evidence of water-bearing minerals
- October 22: India's first lunar mission launched
- September 29: SpaceX rocket successfully orbits on fourth attempt
- September 27: Chinese astronaut walks in space
- August 21: Iran tries to launch satellite with Safir carrier rocket
- August 14: Ariane 5 rocket launches Superbird 7 and AMC-21 satellites
- August 5: NASA denies rumors of finding life on Mars
- August 3: Falcon 1 rocket fails during third launch attempt
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Solar System: Planets (Definition ˑ Planetary habitability ˑ Terrestrial planets ˑ Gas giants ˑ Rings) ˑ Dwarf planets (Plutoid) ˑ Moons ˑ Exploration ˑ Colonization ˑ Discovery timeline
- Sun: Sunspot ˑ Solar wind ˑ Solar flare ˑ Solar eclipse
- Mercury: Geology ˑ Exploration (Mariner 10 ˑ MESSENGER ˑ BepiColombo) ˑ Transit
- Venus: Geology ˑ Atmosphere ˑ Exploration (Venera ˑ Mariner program 2/5/10 ˑ Pioneer ˑ Vega 1/2ˑ Magellan ˑ Venus Express) ˑ Transit
- Earth: History ˑ Geology ˑ Geography ˑ Atmosphere ˑ Rotation
- Moon: Geology ˑ Selenography ˑ Atmosphere ˑ Exploration (Luna ˑ Apollo 8/11) ˑ Orbit ˑ Lunar eclipse
- Mars: Moons (Phobos ˑ Deimos) ˑ Geology ˑ Geography ˑ Atmosphere ˑ Exploration (Mariner ˑ Mars ˑ Viking 1/2 ˑ Pathfinder ˑ MER)
- Ceres: Exploration (Dawn)
- Jupiter: Moons (Amalthea, Io ˑ Europa ˑ Ganymede ˑ Callisto) ˑ Rings ˑ Atmosphere ˑ Exploration (Pioneer 10/11 ˑ Voyager 1/2 ˑ Ulysses ˑ Cassini ˑ Galileo ˑ New Horizons)
- Saturn: Moons (Mimas ˑ Enceladus ˑ Tethys ˑ Dione ˑ Rhea ˑ Titan ˑ Iapetus) ˑ Rings ˑ Exploration (Pioneer 11 ˑ Voyager 1/2 ˑ Cassini–Huygens)
- Uranus: Moons (Miranda ˑ Ariel ˑ Umbriel ˑ Titania ˑ Oberon) ˑ Rings ˑ Exploration (Voyager 2)
- Neptune: Moons (Triton) ˑ Rings ˑ Exploration (Voyager 2)
- Pluto: Moons (Charon, Nix, Hydra) ˑ Exploration (New Horizons)
- Makemake
- Eris: Dysnomia
- Planets beyond Neptune
- Small bodies: Meteoroids ˑ Asteroids (Asteroid belt) ˑ Centaurs ˑ TNOs (Kuiper belt ˑ Scattered disc ˑ Oort cloud) ˑ Comets (Hale-Bopp ˑ Halley's ˑ Hyakutake ˑ Shoemaker-Levy 9)
- Formation and evolution of the Solar System: History of Solar System formation and evolution hypotheses ˑ Nebular hypothesis
- See Also: Featured content ˑ Featured topic ˑ Good articles ˑ List of objects
Bold articles are featured.
Italicized articles are on dwarf planets or major moons.
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 10 September 2008, at 08:39.
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