Editing Solar System (section)

{{Short description|The Sun and objects orbiting it}}
{{Other uses}}
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{{Pp|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox planetary system|background=#efefef
| title = Solar System
| image = {{Switcher|[[File:Solar System true color.jpg|upright=1.3|frameless]]|without captions|[[File:Solar System true color (title and caption).jpg|upright=1.3|frameless]]|with captions|default=1}}
| image_alt = A true-color image of the Solar System with sizes, but not distances, to scale. The order of the planets are from right to left.
| image_size = 400px
| caption = {{Longitem|The [[Sun]], [[Planets of the solar system|planets, moons and dwarf planets]]{{Efn|The [[Asteroid Belt]], [[Kuiper Belt]], and [[Scattered Disc]] are not added because the individual asteroids are too small to be shown on the diagram.}}<br />(true color, size to scale, distances not to scale)|style=padding:2px 0 4px 0;}}
| age = 4.568&nbsp;billion years{{refn|group=lower-alpha|name=AgeSolarSystem}}
| location = {{Longitem|{{unbulleted list
    |{{nowrap|[[Local Interstellar Cloud]]}}
    |[[Local Bubble]]<ref name="JPL interstellar">{{cite web |url=http://interstellar.jpl.nasa.gov/interstellar/probe/introduction/neighborhood.html |title=Our Local Galactic Neighborhood | website=  interstellar.jpl.nasa.gov |publisher=NASA |series=Interstellar Probe Project |year= 2000 |access-date=8 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131121061128/http://interstellar.jpl.nasa.gov/interstellar/probe/introduction/neighborhood.html |archive-date=21 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
    |[[Orion–Cygnus Arm]]
    |[[Milky Way]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hurt |first=R. |date=8 November 2017 |title=The Milky Way Galaxy |url=https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/ |access-date=19 April 2024 |website=science.nasa.gov |language=en-US}}</ref>}}}}
| neareststar = {{Longitem|{{Ublist
    |[[Proxima Centauri]]
    |&nbsp;(4.2465&nbsp;[[Light-year|ly]])<ref name="lurie2014" group="D">{{cite journal |last1=Lurie |first1=John C. |last2=Henry |first2=Todd J. |last3=Jao |first3=Wei-Chun |last4=Quinn |first4=Samuel N. |last5=Winters |first5= Jennifer G. |last6=Ianna |first6=Philip A. |last7=Koerner |first7=David W. |last8= Riedel |first8=Adric R. |last9=Subasavage |first9=John P. | display-authors = 3| year= 2014 |title=The Solar neighborhood. XXXIV. A search for planets orbiting nearby M dwarfs using astrometry |journal=The Astronomical Journal |volume=148 |issue= 5 |pages=91 |arxiv=1407.4820 |bibcode= 2014AJ....148...91L |doi= 10.1088/0004-6256/148/5/91 |s2cid= 118492541 |issn = 0004-6256}}</ref>
    |[[Alpha Centauri]]
    |&nbsp;(4.36&nbsp;ly)<ref name="RECONS" group="D">{{cite web|work= astro.gsu.edu| publisher= Research Consortium On Nearby Stars, Georgia State University|date=7 September 2007|title=The One Hundred Nearest Star Systems |url=http://www.astro.gsu.edu/RECONS/TOP100.posted.htm|access-date=2 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112173559/http://www.chara.gsu.edu/RECONS/TOP100.posted.htm|archive-date=12 November 2007| url-status=live}}</ref>}}}}

| frostline = {{val|5|u=AU|p=~}}<ref name="Mumma">{{Cite journal |last1=Mumma |first1=M. J. |last2=Disanti |first2=M. A. |last3=Dello Russo |first3=N. |last4=Magee-Sauer |first4=K. |last5=Gibb |first5=E. |last6=Novak |first6=R. |display-authors = 3| year= 2003 |title=Remote infrared observations of parent volatiles in comets: A window on the early solar system |journal=Advances in Space Research |volume=31 |issue=12 |pages=2563–2575 |bibcode= 2003AdSpR..31.2563M |citeseerx= 10.1.1.575.5091 |doi=10.1016/S0273-1177(03)00578-7}}</ref>
| outerplanetname = [[Neptune]]
| semimajoraxis = 30.07 AU<ref name=Horizons group="D">{{cite web |first=Donald K. |last=Yeomans |url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%278%27&TABLE_TYPE=%27ELEMENTS%27&START_TIME=%272000-01-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272000-01-02%27&STEP_SIZE=%27200%20years%27&CENTER=%27@0%27&OUT_UNITS=%27AU-D%27 |title=HORIZONS Web-Interface for Neptune Barycenter (Major Body=8) |publisher=[[JPL Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System]] | website= jpl.nasa.gov|access-date=18 July 2014 |archive-date=7 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907055935/https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons_batch.cgi?batch=1&COMMAND=%278%27&TABLE_TYPE=%27ELEMENTS%27&START_TIME=%272000-01-01%27&STOP_TIME=%272000-01-02%27&STEP_SIZE=%27200%20years%27&CENTER=%27%400%27&OUT_UNITS=%27AU-D%27 |url-status=live }}—Select "Ephemeris Type: Orbital Elements", "Time Span: 2000-01-01 12:00 to 2000-01-02". ("Target Body: Neptune Barycenter" and "Center: Solar System Barycenter (@0)".)</ref>
| Kuiper_cliff = 50–70 AU<ref name="twotino">{{cite journal | first1= E. I.| last1= Chiang |title=Resonance Occupation in the Kuiper Belt: Case Examples of the 5:2 and Trojan Resonances |journal=[[The Astronomical Journal]] |volume=126 |issue=1 |pages=430–443 |date=2003 |doi=10.1086/375207 |last2=Jordan |first2=A. B. |last3=Millis |first3=R. L. |last4=Buie |first4=M. W. |last5=Wasserman |first5=L. H. |last6=Elliot |first6=J. L. |last7=Kern |first7=S. D. |last8=Trilling |first8=D. E. |last9=Meech |first9=K. J. | display-authors = 3| bibcode= 2003AJ....126..430C |arxiv=astro-ph/0301458 |s2cid=54079935}}</ref><ref name= "KuiperGap">{{cite journal |first1=C. | last1=de la Fuente Marcos |first2=R. | last2= de la Fuente Marcos |title=Past the outer rim, into the unknown: structures beyond the Kuiper Cliff |journal=[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters]] |volume=527 |issue=1 |pages= L110–L114 |url=https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article-abstract/527/1/L110/7280408 |publication-date=20 September 2023 |date=January 2024 |access-date=28 September 2023 |bibcode=2024MNRAS.527L.110D |arxiv=2309.03885 |doi=10.1093/mnrasl/slad132 | doi-access=free |s2cid= |archive-date=28 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028132004/https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article-abstract/527/1/L110/7280408 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| heliopause = detected at 120 AU<ref name="heliopause">{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20130912.html#.UjJLPZKR86s|title=NASA Spacecraft Embarks on Historic Journey Into Interstellar Space|first=Tony|last=Greicius| website= nasa.gov| date=5 May 2015|access-date=19 April 2024|archive-date=11 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611233345/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/voyager20130912.html#.UjJLPZKR86s|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| hillsphere = 1.1 pc (230,000 AU)<ref name="Chebotarev">{{cite journal |last1=Chebotarev |first1=G. A. |title=Gravitational Spheres of the Major Planets, Moon and Sun |journal=Astronomicheskii Zhurnal |date=1 January 1963 |volume=40 |pages=812 |bibcode=1964SvA.....7..618C |url=https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1964SvA.....7..618C |issn=0004-6299 |access-date=6 May 2024 |archive-date=7 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240507030847/https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1964SvA.....7..618C |url-status=live }}</ref> – 0.865 pc (178,419 AU)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Souami |first1=D |last2= Cresson |first2=J |last3=Biernacki |first3=C |last4=Pierret |first4=F |title=On the local and global properties of gravitational spheres of influence |journal=[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |date=21 August 2020 |volume= 496 |issue=4 |pages= 4287–4297 |doi= 10.1093/mnras/staa1520|doi-access=free | arxiv= 2005.13059 }}</ref>

| noknown_stars = yes
| noknown_planets = yes
| stars = [[Sun]]
| planets = {{Longitem|{{Plainlist|*[[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]]
* [[Venus]]
* [[Earth]]
* [[Mars]]
* [[Jupiter]]
* [[Saturn]]
* [[Uranus]]
* [[Neptune]]}}}}
| dwarfplanets = {{Longitem|{{Plainlist|
* {{Dp|Ceres}}
* {{Dp|Orcus}}
* [[Pluto]]
* [[Haumea]]
* {{Dp|Quaoar}}
* [[Makemake]]
* {{Dp|Gonggong}}
* [[Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris]]
* {{Dp|Sedna}}
* &nbsp;[[List of possible dwarf planets|''more candidates...'']]
}}}}
| satellites = 758<ref name="JPLbodies" group="D">{{Cite web |title=Solar System Objects |url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707142304/https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov |archive-date=7 July 2021 |access-date=14 August 2023 |publisher=NASA/JPL Solar System Dynamics}}</ref>
| minorplanets = 1,368,528<ref name="MPCSummary" group="D">{{Cite web |title=Latest Published Data |url=https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpc/summary |access-date=27 May 2024 |website=The International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center |archive-date=5 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305034947/https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpc/summary |url-status=live }}</ref>
| comets = 4,591<ref name=MPCSummary group="D"/>

| inclination = ~60°, to the ecliptic{{Refn |group=lower-alpha |name=angle}}<!-- If anyone can find a cited value for the inclination of the Solar System's invariable plane to the galactic plane, please replace this value -->
| galacticcenter = {{longitem|24,000–28,000 ly}}<ref name="francis14">{{cite journal |first1=Charles |last1=Francis |first2=Erik |last2=Anderson |s2cid= 119235554 |title=Two estimates of the distance to the Galactic Centre |journal=[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |date=June 2014 |volume=441 |issue=2 |pages=1105–1114 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stu631 |doi-access=free |bibcode= 2014MNRAS.441.1105F |arxiv=1309.2629}}</ref>
| orbitalspeed = {{longitem|720,000&nbsp;km/h (450,000&nbsp;mi/h)<ref name="roughfactsofthesun" />}}
| orbitalperiod = ~230 [[million year]]s<ref name="roughfactsofthesun">{{Cite web |title=Sun: Facts |url=https://science.nasa.gov/sun/facts/ |access-date=19 April 2024 |website=science.nasa.gov |date=14 November 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=19 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419151126/https://science.nasa.gov/sun/facts/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
| spectral = [[G-type main-sequence star|G2V]]
}}

The '''Solar System'''<ref group="lower-alpha">[[Capitalization]] of the name varies. The [[International Astronomical Union]], the authoritative body regarding [[astronomical nomenclature]], specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar System" and "solar system" structures in their [http://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming/ naming guidelines document] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725053113/https://www.iau.org/public/themes/naming |date=25 July 2021 }}. The name is commonly rendered in lower case ('solar system'), as, for example, in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' and [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/solar%20system ''Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127201148/http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/solar%20system |date=27 January 2008 }}.</ref> is the [[gravitationally bound]] [[Planetary system|system]] of the [[Sun]] and the objects that [[orbit]] it.<ref name="IAU Office of Astronomy for Education y607">{{cite web | title=IAU Office of Astronomy for Education | website=astro4edu.org | publisher=IAU Office of Astronomy for Education | url=https://astro4edu.org/resources/glossary/term/314/ | access-date=11 December 2023 | archive-date=11 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211093539/https://astro4edu.org/resources/glossary/term/314/ | url-status=live }}</ref> It [[Formation and evolution of the Solar System|formed about 4.6&nbsp;billion years ago]] when a dense region of a [[molecular cloud]] collapsed, forming the Sun and a [[protoplanetary disc]]. The Sun is a typical star that maintains a [[hydrostatic equilibrium|balanced equilibrium]] by the [[thermonuclear fusion|fusion]] of hydrogen into helium at its [[stellar core|core]], releasing this energy from its outer [[photosphere]]. Astronomers [[stellar classification|classify]] it as a [[G-type main-sequence star]].

The largest objects that orbit the Sun are the eight [[planet]]s. In order from the Sun, they are four [[terrestrial planet]]s ([[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], [[Venus]], [[Earth]] and [[Mars]]); two [[gas giant]]s ([[Jupiter]] and [[Saturn]]); and two [[ice giant]]s ([[Uranus]] and [[Neptune]]). All terrestrial planets have solid surfaces. Inversely, all [[giant planets]] do not have a definite surface, as they are mainly composed of gases and liquids. Over 99.86% of the Solar System's mass is in the Sun and nearly 90% of the remaining mass is in Jupiter and Saturn.

There is a strong consensus among astronomers{{Efn|The [[International Astronomical Union]]'s Minor Planet Center has yet to officially list Orcus, Quaoar, Gonggong, and Sedna as dwarf planets as of 2024.}} that the Solar System has at least nine [[dwarf planet]]s: {{Dp|Ceres}}, {{Dp|Orcus}}, [[Pluto]], {{Dp|Haumea}}, {{Dp|Quaoar}}, {{Dp|Makemake}}, {{Dp|Gonggong}}, {{Dp|Eris}}, and {{Dp|Sedna}}. There are a vast number of [[Small Solar System body|small Solar System bodies]], such as [[asteroid]]s, [[comet]]s, [[Centaur (minor planet)|centaurs]], [[meteoroid]]s, and [[interplanetary dust cloud]]s. Some of these bodies are in the [[asteroid belt]] (between Mars's and Jupiter's orbit) and the [[Kuiper belt]] (just outside Neptune's orbit).{{efn|For more classifications of Solar System objects, see [[List of minor-planet groups]] and {{Section link|Comet|Classification}}.}} Six planets, seven dwarf planets, and other bodies have orbiting [[natural satellite]]s, which are commonly called 'moons'.

The Solar System is constantly flooded by the Sun's [[charged particle]]s, the [[solar wind]], forming the [[heliosphere]]. Around 75–90 [[astronomical unit]]s from the Sun,{{Efn|The scale of the Solar System is sufficiently large that astronomers use a custom unit to express distances. The [[astronomical unit]], abbreviated AU, is equal to {{Convert|1|AU|km mi|lk=off|disp=out|abbr=~}}. This is what the distance from the Earth to the Sun would be if the planet's orbit were perfectly circular.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Standish |first=E. M. |date=April 2005 |title=The Astronomical Unit now |journal=Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union |volume=2004 |issue=IAUC196 |pages=163–179 |bibcode=2005tvnv.conf..163S |doi=10.1017/S1743921305001365 |s2cid=55944238 |doi-access=free}}</ref>}} the solar wind is halted, resulting in the [[Heliopause (astronomy)|heliopause]]. This is the boundary of the Solar System to [[interstellar space]]. The outermost region of the Solar System is the theorized [[Oort cloud]], the source for [[long-period comet]]s, extending to a radius of {{val|2000|–|200000|u=AU|fmt=commas}}. The closest star to the Solar System, [[Proxima Centauri]], is {{convert|4.25|ly|AU}} away. Both stars belong to the [[Milky Way]] galaxy.