or other uses, see Solar System (disambiguation).

Solar System

The Sun, planets, moons and dwarf planets[a]

(true color, size to scale, distances not to scale)

Age 4.568 billion years[b]

Location  Local Interstellar

Cloud

 Local Bubble[1]

 Orion–Cygnus Arm

 Milky Way[2]

Nearest star  Proxima Centauri

 (4.2465 ly)[D 1]

 Alpha Centauri

 (4.36 ly)[D 2]

Population

Stars Sun

Planets  Mercury

 Venus

 Earth

 Mars

 Jupiter
  Saturn

 Uranus

 Neptune

Known dwarf planets  Ceres

 Orcus

 Pluto

 Haumea

 Quaoar

 Makemake

 Gonggong

 Eris

 Sedna

 more candidates...

Known natural satellites 758[D 3]

Known minor planets 1,368,528[D 4]

Known comets 4,591[D 4]

Planetary system

Star spectral type G2V

Frost line ~5 AU[5]

Semi-major axis of 30.07 AU[D 5] (Neptune)

outermost planet

Kuiper cliff 50–70 AU[3][4]

Heliopause detected at 120 AU[6]

Hill sphere 1.1 pc (230,000 AU)[7] –

0.865 pc (178,419 AU)[8]

Orbit about Galactic Center

 Invariable-to-galactic ~60°, to the ecliptic[c]
plane inclination

Distance to 24,000–28,000 ly
Galactic Center [9]

Orbital speed 720,000 km/h

(450,000 mi/h)[10]

Orbital period ~230 million years[10]

The Solar System[d] is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it.[11] It
was formed about 4.6 billion years ago when a dense region of a molecular cloud collapsed, forming the
Sun and a protoplanetary disc. The Sun is a typical star that maintains a balanced equilibrium by
the fusion of hydrogen into helium at its core, releasing this energy from its outer photosphere.
Astronomers classify it as a G-type main-sequence star.

The largest objects that orbit the Sun are the eight planets. In order from the Sun, they are
four terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars); two gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn); and
two ice giants (Uranus and Neptune). All terrestrial planets have solid surfaces. Inversely, all giant
planets do not have a definite surface, as they are mainly composed of gases and liquids. Over 99.86% of
the Solar System's mass is in the Sun and nearly 90% of the remaining mass is in Jupiter and Saturn.

There is a strong consensus among astronomers[e] that the Solar System has at least nine dwarf
planets: Ceres, Orcus, Pluto, Haumea, Quaoar, Makemake, Gonggong, Eris, and Sedna. There are a vast
number of small Solar System bodies, such as asteroids, comets, centaurs, meteoroids,
and interplanetary dust clouds. Some of these bodies are in the asteroid belt (between Mars's and
Jupiter's orbit) and the Kuiper belt (just outside Neptune's orbit).[f] Six planets, seven dwarf planets, and
other bodies have orbiting natural satellites, which are commonly called 'moons'.

The Solar System is constantly flooded by the Sun's charged particles, the solar wind, forming
the heliosphere. Around 75–90 astronomical units from the Sun,[g] the solar wind is halted, resulting in
the heliopause. This is the boundary of the Solar System to interstellar space. The outermost region of
the Solar System is the theorized Oort cloud, the source for long-period comets, extending to a radius
of 2,000–200,000 AU. The closest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri, is 4.25 light-years
(269,000 AU) away. Both stars belong to the Milky Way galaxy.

Formation and evolution

Main article: Formation and evolution of the Solar System

Past
 Diagram of the early Solar
System's protoplanetary disk, out of which Earth and other Solar System bodies formed

The Solar System formed at least 4.568 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a region within
a large molecular cloud.[b] This initial cloud was likely several light-years across and probably birthed
several stars.[14] As is typical of molecular clouds, this one consisted mostly of hydrogen, with some
helium, and small amounts of heavier elements fused by previous generations of stars.[15]

As the pre-solar nebula[15] collapsed, conservation of angular momentum caused it to rotate faster. The
center, where most of the mass collected, became increasingly hotter than the surroundings.[14] As the
contracting nebula spun faster, it began to flatten into a protoplanetary disc with a diameter of
roughly 200 AU[14][16] and a hot, dense protostar at the center.[17][18] The planets formed by accretion from
this disc,[19] in which dust and gas gravitationally attracted each other, coalescing to form ever larger
bodies. Hundreds of protoplanets may have existed in the early Solar System, but they either merged or
were destroyed or ejected, leaving the planets, dwarf planets, and leftover minor bodies.[20][21]

Due to their higher boiling points, only metals and silicates could exist in solid form in the warm inner
Solar System close to the Sun (within the frost line). They would eventually form the rocky planets of
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Because these refractory materials only comprised a small fraction of
the solar nebula, the terrestrial planets could not grow very large.[20]

The giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) formed further out, beyond the frost line, the
point between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where material is cool enough for volatile icy compounds
to remain solid. The ices that formed these planets were more plentiful than the metals and silicates that
formed the terrestrial inner planets, allowing them to grow massive enough to capture large
atmospheres of hydrogen and helium, the lightest and most abundant elements.[20] Leftover debris that
never became planets congregated in regions such as the asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, and Oort cloud.[20]

Within 50 million years, the pressure and density of hydrogen in the center of the protostar became
great enough for it to begin thermonuclear fusion.[22] As helium accumulates at its core, the Sun is
growing brighter;[23] early in its main-sequence life its brightness was 70% that of what it is today.[24] The
temperature, reaction rate, pressure, and density increased until hydrostatic equilibrium was achieved:
the thermal pressure counterbalancing the force of gravity. At this point, the Sun became a main-
sequence star.[25] Solar wind from the Sun created the heliosphere and swept away the remaining gas
and dust from the protoplanetary disc into interstellar space.[23]
Following the dissipation of the protoplanetary disk, the Nice model proposes that gravitational
encounters between planetisimals and the gas giants caused each to migrate into different orbits. This
led to dynamical instability of the entire system, which scattered the planetisimals and ultimately placed
the gas giants in their current positions. During this period, the grand tack hypothesis suggests that a
final inward migration of Jupiter dispersed much of the asteroid belt, leading to the Late Heavy
Bombardment of the inner planets.[26][27]

Present and future

The Solar System remains in a relatively stable, slowly evolving state by following isolated, gravitationally
bound orbits around the Sun.[28] Although the Solar System has been fairly stable for billions of years, it is
technically chaotic, and may eventually be disrupted. There is a small chance that another star will pass
through the Solar System in the next few billion years. Although this could destabilize the system and
eventually lead millions of years later to expulsion of planets, collisions of planets, or planets hitting the
Sun, it would most likely leave the Solar System much as it is today.[29]

The current Sun compared to its peak size in the red-giant phase

The Sun's main-sequence phase, from beginning to end, will last about 10 billion years for the Sun
compared to around two billion years for all other subsequent phases of the Sun's pre-remnant life
combined.[30] The Solar System will remain roughly as it is known today until the hydrogen in the core of
the Sun has been entirely converted to helium, which will occur roughly 5 billion years from now. This
will mark the end of the Sun's main-sequence life. At that time, the core of the Sun will contract with
hydrogen fusion occurring along a shell surrounding the inert helium, and the energy output will be
greater than at present. The outer layers of the Sun will expand to roughly 260 times its current
diameter, and the Sun will become a red giant. Because of its increased surface area, the surface of the
Sun will be cooler (2,600 K (4,220 °F) at its coolest) than it is on the main sequence.[30]

The expanding Sun is expected to vaporize Mercury as well as Venus, and render Earth uninhabitable
(possibly destroying it as well).[31] Eventually, the core will be hot enough for helium fusion; the Sun will
burn helium for a fraction of the time it burned hydrogen in the core. The Sun is not massive enough to
commence the fusion of heavier elements, and nuclear reactions in the core will dwindle. Its outer layers
will be ejected into space, leaving behind a dense white dwarf, half the original mass of the Sun but only
the size of Earth.[30] The ejected outer layers may form a planetary nebula, returning some of the
material that formed the Sun—but now enriched with heavier elements like carbon—to the interstellar
medium.[32][33]

General characteristics
Astronomers sometimes divide the Solar System structure into separate regions. The inner Solar
System includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and the bodies in the asteroid belt. The outer Solar
System includes Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the bodies in the Kuiper belt.[34] Since the
discovery of the Kuiper belt, the outermost parts of the Solar System are considered a distinct region
consisting of the objects beyond Neptune.[35]

Composition

Further information: List of Solar System objects and List of interstellar and circumstellar molecules

The principal component of the Solar System is the Sun, a G-type main-sequence star star that contains
99.86% of the system's known mass and dominates it gravitationally.[36] The Sun's four largest orbiting
bodies, the giant planets, account for 99% of the remaining mass, with Jupiter and Saturn together
comprising more than 90%. The remaining objects of the Solar System (including the four terrestrial
planets, the dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, and comets) together comprise less than 0.002% of the
Solar System's total mass.[h]

The Sun is composed of roughly 98% hydrogen and helium,[40] as are Jupiter and Saturn.[41][42] 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 composed largely of materials with
lower melting points.[43] The boundary in the Solar System beyond which those volatile substances could
coalesce is known as the frost line, and it lies at roughly five times the Earth's distance from the Sun.[5]

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 greater angles to this
plane.[44][45] Most of the planets in the Solar System have secondary systems of their own, being orbited
by natural satellites called moons. All 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 discs
of tiny particles that orbit them in unison.[46]

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 above Earth's north
pole.[47] There are exceptions, such as Halley's Comet.[48] Most of the larger moons orbit their planets
in prograde direction, matching the direction of planetary rotation; Neptune's moon Triton is the largest
to orbit in the opposite, retrograde manner.[49] Most larger objects rotate around their own axes in the
prograde direction relative to their orbit, though the rotation of Venus is retrograde.[50]

To a good first approximation, Kepler's laws of planetary motion describe the orbits of objects around
the Sun.[51]: 433–437 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 distant point from the Sun is called
its aphelion.[52]: 9-6 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 perturbations can be accounted for using numerical
models,[52]: 9-6 but the planetary system can change chaotically over billions of years.[53]

The angular momentum of the Solar System is a measure of the total amount of orbital and rotational
momentum possessed by all its moving components.[54] Although the Sun dominates the system by mass,
it accounts for only about 2% of the angular momentum.[55][56] 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, with a possibly significant contribution from comets.[55]