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The outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, compared to the inner planets Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury at the bottom right. The four outer planets, called giant planets or Jovian planets, collectively make up 99% of the mass orbiting the Sun. [h] All four giant planets have multiple moons and a ring system, although only Saturn's ...
The Sun, planets, moons and dwarf planets (true color, size to scale, distances not to scale) The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Solar System: Solar System – gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly.
Irregular moons are probably minor planets that have been captured from surrounding space. Most irregular moons are less than 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) in diameter. The earliest published discovery of a moon other than Earth's was by Galileo Galilei, who discovered the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610. Over the following three ...
Earth's orbit: 299.2 million km [b] 2 AU [c] 2.99×10 8: 8.48: The average diameter of the orbit of the Earth relative to the Sun. Encompasses the Sun, Mercury and Venus. [18] Inner Solar System ~6.54 AU 9.78×10 8: 8.99: Encompasses the Sun, the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and the asteroid belt.
It was the fastest spacecraft when leaving Earth and will be the fifth probe to leave the Solar System. Launched: 19 January 2006; Destination: Pluto and Charon; Arrival: 14 July 2015; Left Charon: 14 July 2015; Institution: NASA; Voyager 1. Mission: investigating Jupiter and Saturn, and the moons of these planets.
A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet, is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate, rocks or metals. Within the Solar System , the terrestrial planets accepted by the IAU are the inner planets closest to the Sun : Mercury , Venus , Earth and Mars .
The nearest such planet was then as close as 12 light-years away [7] [8] but (see below) is now estimated slightly above four light-years away. On August 24, 2016, astronomers announced the discovery of a rocky planet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth (not counting the Sun). Called Proxima b, the planet is 1.3 ...
The epicycles of the planets in orbit around Earth (Earth at the centre). The path-line is the combined motion of the planet's orbit (deferent) around Earth and within the orbit itself (epicycle). Around 210 BCE, Apollonius of Perga shows the equivalence of two descriptions of the apparent retrograde planet motions (assuming the geocentric ...