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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]
He produced a diagram of the shape of the Milky Way with the Solar System close to the center. [87] In 1845, Lord Rosse constructed a new telescope and was able to distinguish between elliptical and spiral-shaped nebulae. He also managed to make out individual point sources in some of these nebulae, lending credence to Kant's earlier conjecture.
Solar System – gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest eight are the planets (including Earth), with the remainder being significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies.
The observable universe contains as many as an estimated 2 trillion galaxies [36] [37] [38] and, overall, as many as an estimated 10 24 stars [39] [40] – more stars (and, potentially, Earth-like planets) than all the grains of beach sand on planet Earth. [41] [42] [43] Other estimates are in the hundreds of billions rather than trillions.
The galactic coordinate system uses the approximate plane of the Milky Way Galaxy as its fundamental plane. The Solar System is still the center of the coordinate system, and the zero point is defined as the direction towards the Galactic Center. Galactic latitude resembles the elevation above the galactic plane and galactic longitude ...
The solar wind is traveling at supersonic speeds within the Solar System. At the termination shock, a standing shock wave , the solar wind falls below the speed of sound and becomes subsonic . It was previously thought that once subsonic, the solar wind would be shaped by the ambient flow of the interstellar medium, forming a blunt nose on one ...
Our planet - "Earth" All of the planets in the solar system to which Earth belongs to - "All Planets" The planets belong to the "Sun" or the solar system; The Sun belongs to the Milky Way galaxy or the "All Suns" combined; All galaxies put together belong to "All Worlds" All Worlds form a final whole called "The Absolute"
Exoplanet (also known as extrasolar planets) – planet outside the Solar System. A total of 4,341 such planets have been identified as of 28 Jan 2021. Super-Earth – exoplanet with a mass higher than Earth's, but substantially below those of the Solar System's ice giants. Mini-Neptune – also known as a gas dwarf or transitional planet. A ...