The Solar System Portal
The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the masses that orbit it, most prominently its eight planets, of which Earth is one. The system formed about 4.6 billion years ago when a dense region of a molecular cloud collapsed, creating the Sun and a protoplanetary disc from which the orbiting bodies assembled. Inside the Sun's core hydrogen is fused into helium for billions of years, releasing energy which is over even longer periods of time emitted through the Sun's outer layer, the photosphere. This creates the heliosphere and a decreasing temperature gradient across the Solar System.
The mass of the Solar System is by 99.86% almost completely made up of the Sun's mass. The next most massive objects of the system are the eight planets, which by definition dominate the orbits they occupy. Closest to the Sun in order of increasing distance are the four terrestrial planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. These are the planets of the inner Solar System. Earth and Mars are the only planets in the Solar System which orbit within the Sun's habitable zone, in which the sunlight can make surface water under atmospheric pressure liquid. Beyond the frost line at about five astronomical units (AU), are two gas giants – Jupiter and Saturn – and two ice giants – Uranus and Neptune. These are the planets of the outer Solar System. Jupiter and Saturn possess nearly 90% of the non-stellar mass of the Solar System.
Additionally to the planets there are in the Solar System other planetary-mass objects, but which do not dominate their orbits, such as dwarf planets and planetary-mass moons. Dwarf planets there are generally nine Solar System objects identified as such: Ceres, Orcus, Pluto, Haumea, Quaoar, Makemake, Gonggong, Eris, and Sedna. Natural satellites, which are commonly called 'moons', can be found throughout the Solar System and in sizes from planetary-mass moons to much less massive moonlets at their smallest. The largest two moons (Ganymede of Jupiter and Titan of Saturn) are larger than the smallest planet (Mercury), while the seven most massive, which includes Earth's Moon, are more massive and larger than any of the dwarf planets. Less massive than these planetary-mass objects are the vast number of small Solar System bodies, such as asteroids, comets, centaurs, meteoroids, and interplanetary dust clouds. All dwarf planets and many of the smaller bodies are within the asteroid belt (between Mars's and Jupiter's orbit) and the Kuiper belt (just outside Neptune's orbit).
The Solar System is within the heliosphere constantly flooded by the charged plasma particles of the solar wind, which forms with the interplanetary dust, gas and cosmic rays between the bodies of the Solar System an interplanetary medium. At around 70–90 AU from the Sun, the solar wind is halted by the interstellar medium, resulting in the heliopause and the border of the interplanetary medium to interstellar space. Further out somewhere beyond 2,000 AU from the Sun extends the outermost region of the Solar System, the theorized Oort cloud, the source for long-period comets, stretching to the edge of the Solar System, the edge of its Hill sphere, at 178,000–227,000 AU (2.81–3.59 ly), where its gravitational potential becomes equal to the galactic potential. The Solar System currently moves through a cloud of interstellar medium called the Local Cloud. The closest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri, is 269,000 AU (4.25 ly) away. Both are within the Local Bubble, a relatively small 1,000 light-years (ly) wide region of the Milky Way. (Full article...)
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Mars imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003.
Fine dust is prevalent across the surface and the atmosphere, being picked up and spread at the low Martian gravity even by the weak wind of the tenuous atmosphere. The terrain of Mars roughly follows a north-south divide, the Martian dichotomy, with the northern hemisphere mainly consisting of relatively flat, low lying plains, and the southern hemisphere of cratered highlands. Geologically, the planet is fairly active with marsquakes trembling underneath the ground, but also hosts many enormous volcanoes that are extinct (the tallest is Olympus Mons, 21.9 km or 13.6 mi tall), as well as one of the largest canyons in the Solar System (Valles Marineris, 4,000 km or 2,500 mi long). Mars has two natural satellites that are small and irregular in shape: Phobos and Deimos. With a significant axial tilt of 25 degrees, Mars experiences seasons, like Earth (which has an axial tilt of 23.5 degrees). A Martian solar year is equal to 1.88 Earth years (687 Earth days), a Martian solar day (sol) is equal to 24.6 hours. (Full article...)
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Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, is named after the Roman god of war because of its blood red color. Mars has two small, oddly-shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos, named after the sons of the Greek god Ares. At some point in the future Phobos will be broken up by gravitational forces. The atmosphere on Mars is 95% carbon dioxide. In 2003 methane was also discovered in the atmosphere. Since methane is an unstable gas, this indicates that there must be (or have been within the last few hundred years) a source of the gas on the planet. -
Photo credit: Cassini orbiterRhea, at 1,528 kilometres (949 mi) across, is the second-largest moon of Saturn and the ninth largest moon in the Solar System. It was discovered in 1672 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who named it after the Titan Rhea of Greek mythology, "mother of the gods".
The giant Tirawa impact basin is seen above and to the right of center. Tirawa, and another basin to its southwest, are both covered in impact craters, indicating they are quite ancient. -
A TRACE image of sunspots on the surface, or photosphere, of the Sun from September 2002, is taken in the far ultraviolet on a relatively quiet day for solar activity. However, the image still shows a large sunspot group visible as a bright area near the horizon. Although sunspots are relatively cool regions on the surface of the Sun, the bright glowing gas flowing around the sunspots have a temperature of over one million °C (1.8 million °F). The high temperatures are thought to be related to the rapidly changing magnetic field loops that channel solar plasma.
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Image credit: Cassini orbiterThe most detailed full-disc view of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn and second-largest in the Solar System. The brighter region on the right side and equatorial region is named Xanadu, and the large, dark region at the center is Shangri-la. This image has been processed to reduce the effects of the atmosphere and to sharpen surface features. It has been trimmed to show only the illuminated surface and not the atmosphere above the edge of the moon. -
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect sphere of plasma, heated by nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core, with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process. It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Its diameter is about 1.39 million kilometres (860,000 miles) or 109 times that of Earth, while its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth. It accounts for about 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System. Roughly three-quarters of the Sun's mass consists of hydrogen; the rest is mostly helium, with much smaller quantities of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon and iron.
This false-color photograph of the Sun was taken by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) at a wavelength of 304 angstroms, in the extreme ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum. -
Saturn's moon Mimas, as imaged by the Cassini spacecraft. It was discovered on 17 September 1789 by English astronomer William Herschel, and was named after Mimas, a son of Gaia in Greek mythology, by Herschel's son John. The large Herschel Crater is the dominating feature of the moon. With a diameter of 396 km (246 mi), it is the smallest astronomical body that is known to be rounded due to self-gravitation. -
An animated view of Voyager I's approach to Jupiter. One frame of this image was taken each Jupiter day (approximately 10 hours) between January 6 and February 9, 1979, as the space probe flew from 58 million to 31 million kilometers from Jupiter during that time. The small, round, dark spots appearing in some frames are the shadows cast by the moons passing between Jupiter and the Sun, while the small, white flashes around the planet, are the moons themselves. -
Realistic-color mosaic of images of Jupiter's moon Europa taken by NASA's Jupiter orbiter Galileo in 1995 and 1998. This view of the moon's anti-Jovian hemisphere shows numerous lineae, linear features created via a tectonic process in which crustal plates of water ice floating on a subsurface ocean (kept warm by tidal flexing) shift in relative position. Reddish regions are areas where the ice has a higher mineral content. The north polar region is at right. (Geologic features are annotated in Commons.) -
Solar eclipse of 11 August 1999 The solar eclipse of 1999 August 11, as seen from France. This was the most viewed total eclipse in human history, although some areas offered impaired visibility due to adverse weather conditions. The path of the Moon's shadow began in the Atlantic Ocean, before traversing Cornwall, northern France, southern Germany, Austria, Hungary and northern Serbia. Its maximum was in Romania, and it continued across the Black Sea, Turkey, Iran, southern Pakistan and India. -
Jupiter Credit: Cassini probeJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest within the Solar System. It is 318 times more massive than Earth, with a diameter 11 times that of Earth, and with a volume 1300 times that of Earth. Its best known feature is the Great Red Spot, a storm larger than Earth, which was first observed by Galileo four centuries ago. This picture, taken by the Cassini orbiter was one of 26 thousand images taken of Jupiter during the course of its flyby and is the most detailed global color portrait of the planet ever produced. -
Earthrise, as seen by Apollo 8 Credit: William AndersEarthrise, the first occasion in which humans saw the Earth seemingly rising above the surface of the Moon, taken during the Apollo 8 mission on December 24, 1968. This view was seen by the crew at the beginning of its fourth orbit around the Moon, although the first photograph taken was in black-and-white. Note that the Earth is in shadow here. A photo of a fully lit Earth would not be taken until the Apollo 17 mission. -
Photo credit: Luc ViatourFull moon is a lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun, and when the three celestial bodies are aligned as closely as possible to a straight line. At this time, as seen by viewers on Earth, the hemisphere of the Moon that is facing the Earth (the near side) is fully illuminated by sunlight and appears round. Only during a full moon is the opposite hemisphere of the Moon, which is not visible from Earth (the far side), completely unilluminated. -
Photo credit: Harrison SchmittAstronaut Eugene Cernan makes a short test drive of the lunar rover (officially, Lunar Roving Vehicle or LRV) during the early part of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity. The LRV was only used in the last three Apollo missions, but it performed without any major problems and allowed the astronauts to cover far more ground than in previous missions. All three LRVs were abandoned on the Moon. -
Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun in the Solar System. In the Solar System, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter, the third-most-massive planet and the densest giant planet. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth, slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus. Neptune is denser and physically smaller than Uranus because its greater mass causes more gravitational compression of its atmosphere. Neptune orbits the Sun once every 164.8 years at an average distance of 30.1 au (4.5 billion km; 2.8 billion mi). It is named after the Roman god of the sea and has the astronomical symbol ♆, a stylised version of the god Neptune's trident.
This picture of Neptune was taken by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1989, at a range of 4.4 million miles (7.1 million kilometres) from the planet, approximately four days before closest approach. The photograph shows the Great Dark Spot, a storm about the size of Earth, in the centre, while the fast-moving bright feature nicknamed the "Scooter" and the Small Dark Spot can be seen on the western limb. These clouds were seen to persist for as long as the spacecraft's cameras could resolve them. -
These images are composites of the complete radar image collection obtained by the Magellan mission. The Magellan spacecraft was launched aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in May 1989 and began mapping the surface of Venus in September 1990. The spacecraft continued to orbit Venus for four years, returning high-resolution images, altimetry, thermal emissions and gravity maps of 98 percent of the surface. Magellan spacecraft operations ended on October 12, 1994, when the radio contact was lost with the spacecraft during its controlled descent into the deeper portions of the Venusian atmosphere.
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Photograph credit: NASA / JPL–Caltech / University of ArizonaAlthough Mars is smaller than the Earth and 50 percent farther from the Sun, its climate has important similarities with the Earth, such as the presence of polar ice caps, seasonal changes and observable weather patterns. This image shows layered deposits in Planum Boreum, in the north polar region of Mars, which formed from a 3-kilometre-thick (2 mi) stack of dusty water-ice layers about 1,000 km (600 mi) across. The layers record information about the climate of the planet stretching back several million years. Erosion has created scarps and troughs that expose the layering. The tan-colored layers are the dusty water ice of the polar layered deposits, however a section of bluish layers is visible below them. These bluish layers contain sand-sized rock fragments that likely formed a large polar dunefield before the overlying dusty ice was deposited. This photograph, depicting an area approximately 1.3 km (0.8 mi) across, was captured by the HiRISE camera on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. -
Photo credit: The Apollo 17 crewThe Blue Marble is a famous photograph of Earth. NASA officially credits the image to the entire Apollo 17 crew — Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans and Jack Schmitt — all of whom took photographic images during the mission. Apollo 17 passed over Africa during daylight hours and Antarctica is also illuminated. The photograph was taken approximately five hours after the spacecraft's launch, while en route to the Moon. Apollo 17, notably, was the last manned lunar mission; no humans since have been at a range where taking a "whole-Earth" photograph such as "The Blue Marble" would be possible. -
Photo credit: Spirit roverA 360° panorama taken during the descent from the summit of Husband Hill, one of the Columbia Hills in Gusev crater, Mars. This stitched image is composed of 405 individual images taken with five different filters on the panoramic camera over the course of five Martian days. -
Photograph: John VermetteC/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) is a long-period comet discovered in 2014 by Australian astronomer Terry Lovejoy using a 0.2-meter (8 in) Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. It was discovered at apparent magnitude 15 in the southern constellation of Puppis, and is the fifth comet discovered by Lovejoy. Its blue-green glow is the result of organic molecules and water released by the comet fluorescing under the harsh UV and optical light of the sun as it passes through space. -
Animation: NASA/JPL/University of ArizonaA 14-frame clip showing the atmosphere of Jupiter as viewed from the NASA probe Cassini. Taken over a span of 24 Jupiter rotations between October 31 and November 9, 2000, this clip shows various patterns of motion across the planet. The Great Red Spot rotates counterclockwise, and the uneven distribution of its high haze is obvious. To the east (right) of the Red Spot, oval storms, like ball bearings, roll over and pass each other. East-west bands adjacent to each other move at different rates. Strings of small storms rotate around northern-hemisphere ovals. The large grayish-blue "hot spots" at the northern edge of the white Equatorial Zone change over time as they proceed eastward across the planet. Ovals in the north rotate counter to those in the south. Small, very bright features appear quickly and randomly in turbulent regions, possibly lightning storms. The smallest visible features at the equator are about 600 km (370 miles) across. -
Comet Hale-Bopp 29-03-1997 Credit: Philipp SalzgeberComet Hale–Bopp sails across the sky in the vicinity of Pazin in Istria, Croatia. To the lower right of the comet the Andromeda Galaxy is also faintly visible. The comet was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, twice as long as the Great Comet of 1811. At perihelion, it shone brighter than any star in the sky except Sirius, and its two tails stretched 30-40 degrees across the sky. The passage of Hale-Bopp was notable also for inciting a degree of panic about comets not seen for decades. Rumours that the comet was being followed by an alien spacecraft inspired a mass suicide among followers of the Heaven's Gate cult. -
Model: NickshanksLunar distance is a measurement of the distance from the Earth to the Moon. This diagram shows the distance, averaging 384,400 km (238,900 mi), to scale, as well as the Earth and the Moon (scroll to see the entire image). -
Photo credit: Voyager 1False-color detail of Jupiter's atmosphere, imaged by Voyager 1, showing the Great Red Spot and a passing white oval. The wavy cloud pattern to the left of the Red Spot is a region of extraordinarily complex and variable wave motion. To give a sense of Jupiter's scale, the white oval storm directly below the Great Red Spot is approximately the same diameter as Earth.
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General images
The following are images from various Solar System-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Relative orbital distances in the Solar System visualized as a condensed rectangle (from Solar System) -
All active Solar System space probes in 2024 (and a list of upcoming ones) (from Solar System) -
The sparse plasma (blue) and dust (white) in the tail of comet Hale–Bopp are being shaped by pressure from solar radiation and the solar wind, respectively. -
Simulation showing outer planets and Kuiper belt:
a) Before Jupiter/Saturn 2:1 resonance
b) Scattering of Kuiper belt objects into the Solar System after the orbital shift of Neptune
c) After ejection of Kuiper belt bodies by JupiterOrbit of JupiterOrbit of SaturnOrbit of UranusOrbit of Neptune(from Formation and evolution of the Solar System) -
Neptune and its moon Triton, taken by Voyager 2. Triton's orbit will eventually take it within Neptune's Roche limit, tearing it apart and possibly forming a new ring system. (from Formation and evolution of the Solar System) -
The Sun in true white color (from Solar System) -
Meteor Crater in Arizona. Created 50,000 years ago by an impactor about 50 metres (160 ft) across, it shows that the accretion of the Solar System is not over. (from Formation and evolution of the Solar System) -
The four largest asteroids: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, Hygiea. Only Ceres and Vesta have been visited by a spacecraft and thus have a detailed picture. (from Solar System) -
![Image 9Diagram of the Local Interstellar Cloud, the G-Cloud and surrounding stars. As of 2022[update], the exact position of the Solar System within the interstellar clouds remains an unresolved question in astronomy. (from Solar System)](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/The_Local_Interstellar_Cloud_and_neighboring_G-cloud_complex.svg/120px-The_Local_Interstellar_Cloud_and_neighboring_G-cloud_complex.svg.png)
Diagram of the Local Interstellar Cloud, the G-Cloud and surrounding stars. As of 2022[update], the exact position of the Solar System within the interstellar clouds remains an unresolved question in astronomy. (from Solar System) -
Orbit classification of Kuiper belt objects. Some clusters that is subjected to orbital resonance are marked. (from Solar System) -
Overview of the inner Solar System up to Jupiter's orbit (from Solar System) -
Hubble image of protoplanetary discs in the Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery approximately 25 ly across and estimated to be similar to the primordial nebula from which the Sun formed (from Formation and evolution of the Solar System) -
The current Sun compared to its peak size in the red-giant phase (from Solar System) -
Animations of the Solar System's outer planets orbiting. This animation is 100 times faster than the inner planet animation. (from Solar System) -
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The motion of 'lights' moving across the sky is the basis of the classical definition of planets: wandering stars. (from Solar System) -
Animations of the Solar System's inner planets orbiting. Each frame represents 2 days of motion. (from Solar System) -
Artist's conception of a protoplanetary disk (from Formation and evolution of the Solar System) -
Pierre-Simon Laplace, one of the originators of the nebular hypothesis (from Formation and evolution of the Solar System) -
The orbital eccentricities and inclinations of the scattered disc population compared to the classical and resonant Kuiper belt objects (from Solar System) -
The Ring Nebula, a planetary nebula similar to what the Sun will become (from Formation and evolution of the Solar System) -
Artist's conception of the giant impact thought to have formed the Moon (from Formation and evolution of the Solar System) -
The planets, zodiacal light and meteor shower (top left of image) (from Solar System) -
The Solar System (left) within the interstellar medium, with the different regions and their distances on a logarithmic scale (from Solar System) -
The current orbits of Sedna, 2012 VP113, Leleākūhonua (pink), and other very distant objects (red, brown and cyan) along with the predicted orbit of the hypothetical Planet Nine (dark blue) (from Solar System) -
An artist's impression of the Oort cloud, a region still well within the sphere of influence of the Solar System, including a depiction of the much further inside Kuiper belt (inset); the sizes of objects are over-scaled for visibility. (from Solar System) -
Location of the Solar System within the Milky Way (from Formation and evolution of the Solar System) -
A color enhanced photograph from the Moon of a range of components of the Solar System. The three dots at the lower left are from left to right the planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury, and in the middle of the picture rises the Sun's corona over the dark limb of the Moon, which is from the right lit by earthshine. (from Solar System) -
Diagram of the Sun's magnetosphere and helioshealth (from Solar System) -
Diagram of the early Solar System's protoplanetary disk, out of which Earth and other Solar System bodies formed (from Solar System) -
Plot of objects around the Kuiper belt and other asteroid populations. J, S, U and N denotes Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. (from Solar System) -
Comparison of the distances between planets, with the white bar showing orbital variations. The size of the planets is not to scale. (from Solar System) -
The outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, compared to the inner planets Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury at the bottom right (from Solar System) -
Relative size of the Sun as it is now (inset) compared to its estimated future size as a red giant (from Formation and evolution of the Solar System)
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Solar system diagram by Emanuel Bowen in 1747, when neither Uranus, Neptune, nor the asteroid belts had yet been discovered. Orbits of planets are to scale, but the orbits of moons and the sizes of bodies are not. (from Solar System) -
Diagram of the Milky Way, with galactic features and the relative position of the Solar System labeled. (from Solar System)
![Image 9Diagram of the Local Interstellar Cloud, the G-Cloud and surrounding stars. As of 2022[update], the exact position of the Solar System within the interstellar clouds remains an unresolved question in astronomy. (from Solar System)](/wiki/File:The_Local_Interstellar_Cloud_and_neighboring_G-cloud_complex.svg)
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Did you know –
- ...that although NASA originally thought that there was only one scalloped margin dome on the planet Venus (pictured), they have since discovered hundreds of them?
- ...that the Battle of Szkłów in 1654 occurred during a solar eclipse?
- ...that NASA engineer Harvey Allen's "Blunt Body Theory" made possible the design of heat shields that protected the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts?
- ...that the Explorer 32 satellite was able to determine the density of the upper atmosphere through ground-based observations of the effect of drag on the satellite?
- ...that ridges and escarpments in the Victoria quadrangle of the planet Mercury have been associated with the stresses caused by the Sun slowing Mercury's rotation through tidal forces?
- ...that J002E3 was at first thought to be a new moon of Earth when discovered in 2002 but was later found to be the third stage of the Apollo 12 Saturn V?
- ...that the Tooting impact crater on Mars was named after the London suburb of the same name because the discoverer "thought [his] mum and brother would get a kick out of having their home town paired with a land form on Mars"?
- ...that 99% of the mass of the Carme group, a group of retrograde irregular satellites of Jupiter, is located in Carme?
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Wikinews Space portal
- April 7: NASA's helicopter Ingenuity survives its first night at Mars
- December 25: 'Earth-based life can survive in hydrogen-rich atmospheres': MIT professor Dr Seager tells Wikinews about her research on organisms thriving in oxygen-less environment
- July 7: Astronomer Anthony Boccaletti discusses observation of birth of potential exoplanet with Wikinews
- May 31: SpaceX successfully launches its first crewed spaceflight
- May 22: Astronomer tells Wikinews about discovery of closest black hole known so far
- October 12: Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov dies at age 85
- October 10: Swedish academy announces 2019 Nobel Prize winners in physics
- September 14: Astronomers find water vapour in atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b
- March 5: SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docks with International Space Station
- January 9: Simple animals could live in Martian brines: Wikinews interviews planetary scientist Vlada Stamenković
- November 29: NASA's InSight Lander makes it to Mars
- October 12: Manned Soyuz space mission aborts during launch
Major topics
Solar System: Planets (Definition · Planetary habitability · Terrestrial planets · Gas giants · Rings) · Dwarf planets (Plutoid) · Colonization · Discovery timelineˑ Exploration · Moons · Planetariums
- Sun: Sunspot · Solar wind · Solar flare · Solar eclipse
- Mercury: Geology · Exploration (Mariner 10 · MESSENGER · BepiColombo) · Transit
- Venus: Geology · Atmosphere · Exploration (Venera · Mariner program 2/5/10 · Pioneer · Vega 1/2ˑ Magellan · Venus Express) · Transit
- Earth: History · Geology · Geography · Atmosphere · Rotation
- Moon: Geology · Selenography · Atmosphere · Exploration (Luna · Apollo 8/11) · Orbit · Lunar eclipse
- Mars: Moons (Phobos · Deimos) · Geology · Geography · Atmosphere · Exploration (Mariner · Mars · Viking 1/2 · Pathfinder · MER)
- Ceres: Exploration (Dawn)
- Jupiter: Moons (Amalthea, Io · Europa · Ganymede · Callisto) · Rings · Atmosphere · Magnetosphere · Exploration (Pioneer 10/11 · Voyager 1/2 · Ulysses · Cassini · Galileo · New Horizons)
- Saturn: Moons (Mimas · Enceladus · Tethys · Dione · Rhea · Titan · Iapetus) · Rings · Exploration (Pioneer 11 · Voyager 1/2 · Cassini–Huygens)
- Uranus: Moons (Miranda · Ariel · Umbriel · Titania · Oberon) · Rings · Exploration (Voyager 2)
- Neptune: Moons (Triton) · Rings · Exploration (Voyager 2)
- Planets beyond Neptune
- Pluto: Moons (Charon, Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, Styx) · Geology · Atmosphere · Exploration (New Horizons)
- Haumea: Moons (Hi'iaka, Namaka) · Ring
- Quaoar: Weywot · Rings
- Makemake: S/2015 (136472) 1
- Gonggong: Xiangliu
- Eris: Dysnomia
- Sedna
- Small bodies: Meteoroids · Asteroids (Asteroid belt) · Centaurs · TNOs (Kuiper belt · Scattered disc · Oort cloud) · Comets (Hale–Bopp · Halley's · Hyakutake · Shoemaker–Levy 9)
- Formation and evolution of the Solar System: History of Solar System formation and evolution hypotheses · Nebular hypothesis
- See also: Featured content · Featured topic · Good articles · List of objects
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