SOLAR SYSTEM

As the sun rushes through space at a speed of 150 miles (240 kilometers) per second, it takes many
smaller bodies along with it. The sun and its smaller companions together are known as the solar
system. Together, these bodies are making a revolution around the Milky Way that takes 225 million
years. These other members of the solar system range in size from the giant planet Jupiter to
microscopic particles called micrometeorites and even smaller particles--atoms and molecules of the
interplanetary gas. Earth is one of the largest bodies of the solar system, although it is quite small
when compared with the sun or Jupiter.
Astronomers do not know exactly how far out the solar system extends. When it is at its farthest
point from the sun, some 41/2 billion miles (7.2 billion kilometers)--a point called the aphelion--Pluto
is the most distant known planet. Many comets, however, have orbits that take them even farther out,
up to several hundred times the distance of Pluto. Even at that distance the sun's gravitational force
can pull the comet back. Some hundred billion comets form a tenuous halo in the outer parts of the
solar system. Each is like a giant snowball, 1,000 to 10,000 feet (300 to 3,000 meters) in diameter.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM IN SPACE
The solar system centers on the sun, one of a huge group of stars swirling around in a huge pinwheel-
shaped mass called the Milky Way galaxy (see Astronomy). There are on the order of 100 billion stars
in the galaxy. Astronomical distances are so huge that astronomers often use the light-year as the unit
of distance. One light-year is equal to the distance light travels in a year, or 5,880,000,000,000 miles
(9,463,000,000,000 kilometers).
The galaxy is about 100,000 light-years across. The solar system's nearest neighbor in the galaxy is
the triple star system Alpha and Proxima Centauri, which is 4.3 light-years away from our sun.
Outside the Milky Way there are billions more galaxies stretching out through space. Evidence
suggests that there are also at least two planets orbiting a pulsar outside the solar system. These
planets are estimated to be about 1,300 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation
Virgo.
Astronomers cannot see to the end of the universe, which is the vast space that contains the galaxies
and all other matter and energy that anyone knows to exist. However, galaxies and other objects have
been detected that are thought to be between 5 billion and 15 billion light-years away from the sun.
Compared with such distances, our solar system occupies a very tiny amount of space.
PARTS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Even though the solar system is tiny compared with the distances to galaxies or even to nearby stars,
it is enormous when compared with distances on Earth. It is also diverse, with conditions ranging
from the hot, gaseous sun to the cold darkness of Pluto.
The Sun
The sun is the central member of the solar system. Its gravitational force holds the other members in
orbit and governs their motions. It far outweighs all other components of the solar system combined.
In fact, the sun contains more than 99 percent of the mass of the entire solar system.
The sun is, however, only an average-sized star. If it were as far away from Earth as most stars are,
it would look no larger or brighter than its neighbors. But since it is by far the nearest star and the
only star whose surface details may be observed, it is also one of the major sources of information
that scientists have about how stars behave (see Star).
The sun provides nearly all the heat and light and other forms of energy necessary for life on our
planet. In fact, the sun provides virtually all the energy of the solar system. Its gravitational attraction
governs the motions (or kinetic energy) of the planets and other bodies. Radiation from its surface
bathes the planets in all the electromagnetic radiation they receive, with some minor exceptions.
These exceptions include the faint light from stars, the disintegration of radioactive materials on the
planets, emissions of long-wave radiation by the planet Jupiter, and the radio waves and X rays from
remote space.
The Planets
The largest and most massive members of the solar system, after the sun, are the nine known planets.
Even so, their combined mass is less than 0.2 percent of the total mass of the solar system.
The planets travel around the sun in regular orbits that are nearly circular in shape. Mercury's orbit
lies nearest the sun. Next is Venus, then Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and finally
Pluto. Pluto's orbit is the most elliptical of any of the planets. When Pluto is nearest to the sun (at
perihelion), it is nearer to the sun than is Neptune.
The motions of the planets are similar in significant ways. All the planets orbit the sun in very
nearly the same plane, which is the plane of the sun's equator. Pluto is the most divergent; its orbital
plane makes an angle of about 17o to the plane of Earth's orbit around the sun. Mercury is next,
making a 7o angle to Earth's orbital plane. The planes of all the other planetary orbits lie within 31/2o
of Earth's orbit.
The planets may be grouped according to their nearness to the sun or according to their physical
properties. For example, Mercury and Venus, whose orbits lie between the sun and Earth, are called
inferior planets. The planets whose orbits lie beyond Earth's orbit are the superior planets.
Alternatively, the planets may be divided by location into inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and
Mars) and outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto).
The reason for this division is that the four inner planets are similar in composition--mostly silicate
rock and iron in varying proportions--while the four major outer planets, Jupiter to Neptune, are huge,
not very dense, and have deep gaseous atmospheres. Since Jupiter is the outstanding representative of
this group, these four planets are also known as the Jovian planets. These planets are composed
mostly of hydrogen and helium in liquid and gaseous form. Pluto is an exception. It is much smaller
than the other planets and is composed mostly of nitrogen.
Seven of the planets have smaller bodies--their natural satellites--circling them. With 24 moons,
Saturn has the greatest number. Earth and Pluto each have one moon. These moons are so large with
respect to the planets they orbit that each of the two planet-moon systems is sometimes considered a
double planet system. Jupiter's Ganymede and Saturn's Titan are larger than the planet Mercury. The
planetary rings around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are made up of innumerable tiny
satellites.
Asteroids, or Minor Planets
There are many smaller bodies that circle the sun in orbits that lie, for the most part, between Mars
and Jupiter. These are the asteroids, sometimes called minor planets. Ceres is the largest, with a
diameter of more than 600 miles (965 kilometers). Few asteroids have diameters larger than 100 miles
(160 kilometers). Most are probably no larger than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) across. It is estimated that
millions of asteroids of boulder size exist in the solar system. (See also Asteroid; Astronomy.)
The total mass of all asteroids in the solar system adds up to only about three times that of Ceres.
Many of the smaller asteroids are thought to be fragments caused by collisions between the larger
asteroids. Some of the fragments may collide with Earth as meteorites. Scientists are then able to
determine their compositions and ages. Some asteroids are thought to contain samples of the first
materials to coalesce out of the great cloud from which the solar system itself is believed to have
formed.
Comets
At irregular intervals, a fuzzy spot of light, perhaps with a tail streaming away from it, appears in the
sky. Such appearances of comets are spectacular but infrequent. Most comets that are detected are
visible only with a telescope. Occasionally one can be seen with the unaided eye, and several times a
century a comet will appear that can be seen even in the daytime.
Comets contain dust particles and ices of various substances that are gases on Earth. As a comet
approaches the sun, the ices turn to vapor, forming a hazy, gaseous coma around the remaining swarm
of solid particles, the nucleus. As the comet moves even closer to the sun, even more material is
vaporized. Radiation and high-energy particles streaming out from the sun push this material away
from the comet in a long tail that always points away from the sun.
Astronomers have been unable to determine the mass of a comet because a comet is not sufficiently
massive to affect the orbits of objects it approaches. For example, one comet passed near Jupiter's
satellites without affecting their orbital motions. The orbit of the comet, however, was shortened to
about one fourth its original length.
Such evidence has led astronomers to conclude that comets have less than one billionth the mass of
Earth, and probably most of them have even smaller masses. Comets contain icy nuclei a mile or more
across. Gases and fine particles stream away from the nucleus as it disintegrates in the heat of the sun.
Comets either dissolve completely, ending up as swarms of tiny particles, or ultimately appear as
small asteroidal bodies, without tails, still orbiting around the sun.
Matter Between the Planets
A great deal of matter--debris from comets, rock and metal fragments like miniature asteroids--is
orbiting in interplanetary space. These fragments are meteoroids. Often a meteoroid will collide with
Earth's atmosphere, where it is usually vaporized by heat from the friction against air molecules. The
bright streak of light that occurs while the particle vaporizes is a meteor. Occasionally a large chunk
of rock and metal survives the journey to the ground. Such remnants are meteorites (see Meteor and
Meteorite). 1

1From Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia Deluxe © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc.