In Depth | Our Solar System – NASA Solar System Exploration
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.
In Depth | Sun – NASA Solar System Exploration
The science of studying the Sun and its influence throughout the solar system is called heliophysics. The Sun is the largest object in our solar system. Its diameter is about 865,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers).
What is a Planet? | Planets – NASA Solar System Exploration
A planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
Titan | Science - NASA Solar System Exploration
Oct 24, 2024 · NASA's Cassini spacecraft would eventually complete more than 100 targeted flybys of Titan, sending European Space Agency’s Huygens probe to land on the mysterious, alien world—the first landing on a surface in the outer solar system.
Overview | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
Oct 24, 2024 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.
NASA Planetary Science Highlights: 2021 - NASA Solar System …
Dec 23, 2021 · Our 2021 round-up of NASA planetary science is packed with the year’s most spectacular images, ground-breaking discoveries, and incredible mission events.
Enceladus | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
Saturn’s moon Enceladus is a small, icy body, but Cassini revealed this ocean world to be one of the solar system’s most scientifically interesting destinations.
About | Science Goals – NASA Solar System Exploration
Mar 11, 2010 · Drawing on extensive interactions with the broad planetary science community, the report presents a decadal program of science and exploration with the potential to yield revolutionary new discoveries.
Rings | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
In the 400 years since Galileo's discovery, the rings have become Saturn’s telltale feature and are perhaps the most recognized characteristic of any world in our solar system. Cassini spent more than a decade examining them more closely than any spacecraft has before.
Saturn | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
Oct 24, 2024 · Saturn is nearly 10 times farther from the sun than Earth and takes far longer to orbit the sun – about 29 Earth years. Saturn’s axis of rotation is tilted like Earth’s, and so it too has seasons, but the longer year produces seasons that last more than seven Earth years each.