The Solar System

The Solar System was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago and consists of the Sun, planets, dwarf planets and other astronomical objects bound in its orbit.

There are now officially only eight planets in our solar system (in 2006 the International Astronomical Union changed the definition of 'planet' so that Pluto no longer qualifies).

NASA brings you the latest news and information about the solar system.

The Solar System is made up of the Sun and all of the smaller objects that move around it. Apart from the Sun, the largest members of the Solar System are the eight major planets.

Two recent studies have shown that the existence of a mysterious, hypothetical Planet Nine could explain why the planets in our Solar System don't fully line up with the Sun.

The search for life in our solar system hasn't uncovered any, but here are five of the places that may have the best chance (relatively speaking) of hosting alien life forms.

In yet another startling discovery, the scientists have found two small “worlds” outside of the orbit of Neptune.

The solar system is filled with a wide assortment of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids and comets. The Earth is the only body in the solar system known to have life.

The Solar System was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago and consists of the Sun, planets, dwarf planets and other astronomical objects bound in its orbit. The formation was cause by the collapse of a giant molecular cloud, the mass at the centre collecting to form the Sun and a flat disk of dust around it which the planets and other bodies would eventually be formed from. Learn more here.

Learn how our solar system formed, how it was discovered and the names of the planets, dwarf planets and regions of space that orbit our sun.

In the new story of the solar system, the future is a bit dicey, and it all began in chaos.

Robotic probes launched by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and others are gathering information all across the solar system. We currently have spacecraft in orbit around the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Saturn - and one new rover recently landed on Mars. Several others are on their way to smaller bodies, and a few are heading out of the solar system entirely. Learn more here!

The solar system consists of the Sun; the eight official planets, at least three "dwarf planets", more than 130 satellites of the planets, a large number of small bodies (the comets and asteroids), and the interplanetary medium.

Get information, facts, photos, news, videos, and more about our solar system from National Geographic.

A solar system refers to a star and all the objects that travel in orbit around it. Our solar system consists of the sun - our star - eight planets and their natural satellites (such as our moon); dwarf planets; asteroids and comets. Our solar system is located in an outward spiral of the Milky Way galaxy.

Our solar system consists of a star we call the Sun, the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto; the satellites of the planets; numerous comets, asteroids, and meteoroids; and the interplanetary medium.

The Solar System is the 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, with the remainder being significantly smaller objects, such as dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies. Of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly, the moons, two are larger than the smallest planet, Mercury.