The solar system is an assemblage of eight (formerly nine) planets, many planetary satellites or moons, asteroids, and comets. It also contains a vast reaches of highly tenuous gas and dust known as the interplanetary medium. The Sun shoots out a stream of particles called the solar wind. This flows outward through the solar system…
The solar system began to form when a massive cloud of dust and gas known as the solar nebula collapsed. This happened 4.6 billion years ago. During the collapse of this nebula, the densest material was drawn inwards, forming our sun. This was probably caused by a nearby star’s supernova, which sent shock waves that…
The Sun is only one of billions of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. This means there are many other solar systems out in space, each with their own planets and moons. The eight planets in the Solar System and their hundreds of natural satellites (moons) are surrounded by countless asteroids, comets and other…
Animated gifs are a great way to show off a variety of subjects. Space is no exception. In a recent Twitter animation, planetary scientist James O’Donoghue from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) shows us how Earth, our solar system and the galaxy are moving through space at different speeds. The Sun The Sun is…
The solar system is made up of the Sun, planets, moons and countless other small objects such as dwarf planets, comets and asteroids. Our solar system was formed about 4.7 billion years ago when a cloud of gas and dust gathered into a clump that was pulled together by gravity. Over millions of years, this…
The solar system space contains the Sun and a vast array of orbiting objects including planets, moons, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, and interplanetary dust. These are bound to the Sun by gravity, which pulls them together in a circle around the star. The process begins with an enormous cloud of gas and dust called a solar…
Every scrap of matter in our solar system originated as part of a giant interstellar cloud. As it grew hot and dense, gravity began to pull dust and gas inwards. Gravity sculpted this material into the planets, as well as smaller bodies such as asteroids, comets and meteoroids. Some of these objects are still tumbling…
