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Parts-per-million chart of the relative mass distribution of the Solar System, each cubelet denoting 2 × 10 24 kg. This article includes a list of the most massive known objects of the Solar System and partial lists of smaller objects by observed mean radius. These lists can be sorted according to an object's radius and mass and, for the most ...
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.
The star, whose mass is roughly half that of the Sun, is currently 62 light-years from the Solar System. It was first noticed in 1999 using data from the Hipparcos satellite, and was estimated to pass less than 1.3 light-years (0.40 pc) from the Sun in 1.4 million years. [ 73 ]
A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr [3]), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly 9 460 730 472 580.8 km, which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi.
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.
Local Interstellar Cloud – immediate galactic neighborhood of the Solar System. Alpha Centauri – star system nearest to the Solar System, at about 4.4 light years away; Solar System – star and planetary system where the Earth is located. Earth – the only planet known to have life.
The parsec is defined in terms of the astronomical unit, is used to measure distances beyond the scope of the Solar System and is about 3.26 light-years: 1 pc = 1 au/tan(1″) [6] [61] Proxima Centauri: 268 000: ± 126 Distance to the nearest star to the Solar System — Galactic Centre of the Milky Way: 1 700 000 000 —
This is because the Roman numeral designations originally reflected distance from the parent planet and were updated for each new discovery until 1851, but by 1892, the numbering system for the then-known satellites had become "frozen" and from then on followed order of discovery.