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This list does not include small Solar System bodies, but it does include a sample of possible planetary-mass objects whose shapes have yet to be determined. The Sun's orbital characteristics are listed in relation to the Galactic Center , while all other objects are listed in order of their distance from the Sun.
The Solar System travels alone through the Milky Way in a circular orbit approximately 30,000 light years from the Galactic Center. Its speed is about 220 km/s. The period required for the Solar System to complete one revolution around the Galactic Center, the galactic year, is in the range of 220–250 million years. Since its formation, the ...
The term "Solar System" entered the English language by 1704, when John Locke used it to refer to the Sun, planets, and comets as a whole. [40] By then it had been stablished beyond doubt that planets are other worlds, then the stars would be other distant suns, so the whole Solar System is actually only a small part of an immensely large ...
Header of the Discovery Program website (January 2016) [1] Depictions of the Lucy and Psyche missions Asteroid Eros regolith, as viewed by Discovery's NEAR Shoemaker mission The Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through its Planetary Missions Program Office.
The Grand tack hypothesis explains how in the Solar System giant planets migrated in unique way to form the Solar System belts and near circular orbit of planets around the Sun. [10] [11] [9] The Solar System's belts are one key parameters for a Solar System that can support complex life, as circular orbits are a parameter needed for the ...
Asteroid sample return mission (sample returned 24 September 2023 [needs update]) [459] [460] InSight: 5 May 2018 Mars lander [461] [462] Queqiao: 20 May 2018 Relay satellite for Chang'e 4 in Halo orbit around Earth–Moon L 2 Lagrange point [463] Parker Solar Probe: 12 August 2018 Solar corona probe, closest solar approach (0.04 AU) [464] [465 ...
In order to leave the Solar System, the probe needs to reach the local escape velocity. Escape velocity from the sun without the influence of Earth is 42.1 km/s. In order to reach this speed, it is highly advantageous to use as a boost the orbital speed of the Earth around the Sun, which is 29.78 km/s.
Sample return missions (9 C, 43 P) Solar observatories (2 C, 19 P) ... Missions to the Sun (3 C, 30 P) Pages in category "Discovery and exploration of the Solar System"