In Depth | Our Solar System – NASA Solar System Exploration The planetary system we call home is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity – the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; dwarf planets such as Pluto; dozens of moons; and millions of asteroids, comets, and meteoroids Beyond our own solar system, there
Planet Compare - NASA Solar System Exploration NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system
In Depth | Kuiper Belt – NASA Solar System Exploration Pluto's Place in the Kuiper Belt In 1930, Pluto became the first Kuiper Belt object to be discovered It was found at a time before astronomers had reason to expect a large population of icy worlds beyond Neptune
In Depth | Moons – NASA Solar System Exploration Jovian Moons Saturnian Moons Uranian Moons Neptunian Moons Moons of Dwarf Planets Pluto's large moon Charon is about half the size of Pluto Like Earth's Moon, Charon may have formed from debris resulting from an early collision of an impactor with Pluto Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope to study Pluto found four more small moons
RPS 3D Viewer - NASA Solar System Exploration NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system
Solar System Exploration Solar System Facts Our solar system includes the Sun, eight planets, five officially named dwarf planets, hundreds of moons, and thousands of asteroids and comets Our solar system is located in the Milky Way, a barred spiral galaxy with two major arms, and two minor arms
Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud - NASA Solar System Exploration Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake retain their classifi-cation as KBOs (or TNOs) While no spacecraft has yet traveled to the Kuiper Belt, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which is scheduled to arrive at Pluto in 2015, plans to study other KBOs after the Pluto mission is complete
Bibliography - NASA Solar System Exploration NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system
In Depth | Ganymede – NASA Solar System Exploration Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is proving to be a fascinating world Not only is it the largest moon in our solar system, bigger than the planet Mercury and the dwarf planet Pluto, but NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has found the best evidence yet for an underground saltwater ocean on Ganymede The ocean is thought to have more water than all the water on Earth's surface Ganymede’s ocean is