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The moons of the trans-Neptunian objects (other than Charon) have not been included, because they appear to follow the normal situation for TNOs rather than the moons of Saturn and Uranus, and become solid at a larger size (900–1000 km diameter, rather than 400 km as for the moons of Saturn and Uranus).
Many trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) have been discovered; in many cases their positions in this list are approximate, as there is frequently a large uncertainty in their estimated diameters due to their distance from Earth. Solar System objects more massive than 10 21 kilograms are known or expected to be approximately spherical.
Animation of Saturn and the Solar System's outer planets orbiting around the Sun Simulated appearance of Saturn as seen from Earth (at opposition) during an orbit of Saturn, 2001–2029. The average distance between Saturn and the Sun is over 1.4 billion kilometers (9 AU). With an average orbital speed of 9.68 km/s, [6] it takes Saturn 10,759 ...
The Solar System is located in the Milky Way, a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter of about 100,000 light-years containing more than 100 billion stars. [269] The Sun is part of one of the Milky Way's outer spiral arms, known as the Orion–Cygnus Arm or Local Spur.
This number is likely much higher, due to the sheer number of stars needed to be surveyed; a star approaching the Solar System 10 million years ago, moving at a typical Sun-relative 20–200 kilometers per second, would be 600–6,000 light-years from the Sun at present day, with millions of stars closer to the Sun.
From the value of the diurnal parallax, one can determine the distance to the Sun from the geometry of Earth. [6] [7] The first known estimate of the solar mass was by Isaac Newton. [8] In his work Principia (1687), he estimated that the ratio of the mass of Earth to the Sun was about 1 ⁄ 28 700. Later he determined that his value was based ...
In celestial mechanics, the Roche limit, also called Roche radius, is the distance from a celestial body within which a second celestial body, held together only by its own force of gravity, will disintegrate because the first body's tidal forces exceed the second body's self-gravitation. [1]
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.