The solar system is a collection of planets, moons and other bodies orbiting the Sun. It is located in the Milky Way, a galaxy made of hundreds of billions of stars.
Our solar system is one of the most complex and fascinating in the universe. It is also one of the most accessible for us to observe on Earth.
Using space-based cameras, people from all over the world are able to watch space live on the internet, from the farthest reaches of our planet. The views shared by these cameras are amazing, bringing to life the vastness of space and bridging the gap between humanity and the stars.
We can see the clouds forming in the atmosphere, the lights of North Korea or Antarctica as well as big cities, from these satellites and drones. These camera streams are a great way to learn more about our weather, or just have some fun watching the stars in the night sky.
The Sun
The Sun is the centre of our solar system, and it contains 99.8 percent of the solar system’s mass, according to NASA. It is a yellow dwarf star with a temperature of about 91% hydrogen and 8.9% helium.
Our Solar System
There are eight planets in our solar system that orbit the Sun, and millions of smaller objects like asteroids and comets. They all move around the Sun in elliptical orbits. Some of them are even larger than the planets.
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and is twice as large as all the other planets combined. It takes 10 hours for its axis to rotate around the Sun, and it is home to a giant ocean of hydrogen gas that is heated up from the interior. It is surrounded by dozens of moons and has rings, which are faint and composed of dust.
Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, is a bit smaller than Jupiter and has a much longer day. It takes about 10 hours for its axis to rotate and is home to the largest number of planets, with at least 100 moons.
Uranus, the eighth planet from the Sun, is a giant ball of gas that orbits the Sun in a very fast rotation. It is 1.6 billion miles (2.57 billion km) from the Sun when it is closest, and 2.829 billion mi (4.553 billion km) when it is farthest.
Neptune, the last planet from the Sun, is a giant gaseous object that orbits the Sun in an extremely slow rotation. It is 900 times dimmer than the Sun, and is 2.67 billion miles (4.301 billion km) from the Sun at its closest and 2.829 billion mi (4.553 million km) from the Sun at its farthest.
Pluto, the ninth planet from the Sun, is an icy and low-density body that is smaller than the Moon and more similar to a comet than to a planet. It is also part of the Kuiper belt, a region of icy objects that surrounds our solar system.