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002% of the Solar

[f]
System's total mass.
[40]
The Sun is composed of roughly 98% hydrogen and helium,
[41][42]
as are Jupiter and Saturn. A composition gradient exists
in the Solar System, created by heat and light pressure from
the early Sun; those objects closer to the Sun, which are more
affected by heat and light pressure, are composed of elements
with high melting points. Objects farther from the Sun are
[43]
composed largely of materials with lower melting points. The
boundary in the Solar System beyond which those volatile
substances could coalesce is known as the frost line, and it lies
[10]
at roughly five times the Earth's distance from the Sun.
The objects of the inner Solar System are composed mostly of
[44] [45]
rocky materials, such as silicates, iron or nickel. Jupiter
and Saturn are composed mainly of gases with extremely low
melting points and high vapor pressure, such as hydrogen,
[45]
helium, and neon. Ices, like water, methane, ammonia,
[44]
hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide, have melting points of
[45]
up to a few hundred kelvins. They can be found as ices,
[45]
liquids, or gases in various places in the Solar System. Icy
substances comprise the majority of the satellites of the giant
planets, as well as most of Uranus and Neptune (the so-called
"ice giants") and the numerous small objects that lie beyond
[44][46]
Neptune's orbit. Together, gases and ices are referred to
[47]
as volatiles.
Orbits
Animations of the Solar System's inner planets orbiting. Each frame
represents 2 days of motion.
Animations of the Solar System's outer planets orbiting. This

animation is 100 times faster than the inner planet animation.
The planets and other large objects in orbit around the Sun lie
near the plane of Earth's orbit, known as the ecliptic. Smaller
icy objects such as comets frequently orbit at significantly
[48][49]
greater angles to this plane. Most of the planets in the
Solar System have secondary systems of their own, being
orbited by natural satellites called moons. Many of the largest
natural satellites are in synchronous rotation, with one face
permanently turned toward their parent. The four giant planets
have planetary rings, thin bands of tiny particles that orbit them
[50]
in unison.
As a result of the formation of the Solar System, planets and
most other objects orbit the Sun in the same direction that the
Sun is rotating. That is, counter-clockwise, as viewed from
[51]
above Earth's north pole. There are exceptions, such as
[52]
Halley's Comet. Most of the larger moons orbit their planets
in prograde direction, matching the planetary rotation;
Neptune's moon Triton is the largest to orbit in the opposite,
[53]
retrograde manner. Most larger objects rotate around their
own axes in the prograde direction relative to their orbit, though
[54]
the rotation of Venus is retrograde.
To a good first approximation, Kepler's laws of planetary motion
[55]: 433–437
describe the orbits of objects around the Sun. These
laws stipulate that each object travels along an ellipse with the
Sun at one focus, which causes the body's distance from the
Sun to vary over the course of its year. A body's closest
approach to the Sun is called its perihelion, whereas its most
[56]: 9-6
distant point from the Sun is called its aphelion. With the
exception of Mercury, the orbits of the planets are nearly
circular, but many comets, asteroids, and Kuiper belt objects
follow highly elliptical orbits. Kepler's laws only account for the
influence of the Sun's gravity upon an orbiting body, not the
gravitational pulls of different bodies upon each other. On a
human time scale, these additional perturbations can be
[56]: 9-6
accounted for using numerical models, but the planetary
[57]
system can change chaotically over billions of years.
The angular momentum of the Solar System is a measure of
the total amount of orbital and rotational momentum possessed
[58]
by all its moving components. Although the Sun dominates
the system by mass, it accounts for only about 2% of the
[59][60]
angular momentum. The planets, dominated by Jupiter,
account for most of the rest of the angular momentum due to
the combination of their mass, orbit, and distance from the Sun,
[59]
with a possibly significant contribution from comets.
Distances and scales
To-scale diagram of distance between planets, with the white bar
showing orbital variations. The size of the planets is not to scale.
The astronomical unit [AU] (150,000,000 km; 93,000,000 mi)
would be the distance from the Earth to the Sun if the planet's
[61]
orbit were perfectly circular. For comparison, the radius of
[62]
the Sun is 0.0047 AU (700,000 km; 400,000 mi). Thus, the
−5
Sun occupies 0.00001% (10 %) of the volume of a sphere
with a radius the size of Earth's orbit, whereas Earth's volume
−6
is roughly one millionth (10 ) that of the Sun. Jupiter, the
largest planet, is 5.2 astronomical units (780,000,000 km;
480,000,000 mi) from the Sun and has a radius of 71,000 km
(0.00047 AU; 44,000 mi), whereas the most distant planet,
9 9 [42]
Neptune, is 30 AU (4.5×10 km; 2.8×10 mi) from the Sun.
[63]
With a few exceptions, the farther a planet or belt is from the

Sun, the larger the distance between its orbit and the orbit of
the next nearest object to the Sun. For example, Venus is
approximately 0.33 AU farther out from the Sun than Mercury,
whereas Saturn is 4.3 AU out from Jupiter, and Neptune lies
10.5 AU out from Uranus. Attempts have been made to
determine a relationship between these orbital distances, like
[64]
the Titius–Bode law and Johannes Kepler's model based on
[65]
the Platonic solids, but ongoing discoveries have invalidated
[66]
these hypotheses.
Some Solar System models attempt to convey the relative
scales involved in the Solar System in human terms. Some are
small in scale (and may be mechanical—called orreries)—
[67]
whereas others extend across cities or regional areas. The
largest such scale model, the Sweden Solar System, uses the
110-metre (361 ft) Avicii Arena in Stockholm as its substitute
Sun, and, following the scale, Jupiter is a 7.5-metre (25-foot)
sphere at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, 40 km (25 mi) away,
whereas the farthest current object, Sedna, is a 10 cm (4 in)
[68][69]
sphere in Luleå, 912 km (567 mi) away.
If the Sun–Neptune distance is scaled to 100 metres (330 ft),
then the Sun would be about 3 cm (1.2 in) in diameter (roughly
two-thirds the diameter of a golf ball), the giant planets would
be all smaller than about 3 mm (0.12 in), and Earth's diameter
along with that of the other terrestrial planets would be smaller
[70]
than a flea (0.3 mm or 0.012 in) at this scale.
Habitability

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fwereqrqwerfwefcwvsdcdsss than 0.

002% of the Solar

Animations of the Solar System's outer planets orbiting. This

With a few exceptions, the farther a planet or belt is from the

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