In Depth | Sun – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way, bringing with it the planets, asteroids, comets, and other objects in our solar system. Our solar system is moving with an average velocity of 450,000 miles per hour (720,000 kilometers per hour).
In Depth | Earth's Moon – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Moon makes a complete orbit around Earth in 27 Earth days and rotates or spins at that same rate, or in that same amount of time. Because Earth is moving as well – rotating on its axis as it orbits the Sun – from our perspective, the Moon appears to orbit us every 29 days. Structure. Structure. Earth's Moon has a core, mantle, and crust.
In Depth | Our Solar System – NASA Solar System Exploration
Our solar system extends much farther than the eight planets that orbit the Sun. The solar system also includes the Kuiper Belt that lies past Neptune's orbit. This is a sparsely occupied ring of icy bodies, almost all smaller than the most popular Kuiper Belt Object – dwarf planet Pluto.
In Depth | Kuiper Belt – NASA Solar System Exploration
The Kuiper Belt is a large region in the cold, outer reaches of our solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune. It's sometimes called the "third zone" of the solar system. Astronomers think there are millions of small, icy objects in this region – including hundreds of thousands that are larger than 60 miles (100 kilometers) wide.
solar system. The object (2003VB12), since named Sedna for an Inuit goddess who lives at the bottom of the frigid Arctic ocean, approaches the Sun only briefly during its 10,500-year solar orbit. It never enters the Kuiper Belt, whose outer boundary 2005 — Astronomers announce the discovery of 2003UB313.
10 Need-to-Know Things About Mercury - NASA Solar System …
Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system – traveling through space at nearly 29 miles (47 kilometers) per second. The closer a planet is to the Sun, the faster it travels. Since Mercury is the fastest planet and has the shortest distance to travel around the Sun, it has the shortest year of all the planets in our solar system – 88 ...
In Depth | Hypothetical Planet X - NASA Solar System Exploration
2015年1月20日 · Caltech researchers have found mathematical evidence suggesting there may be a "Planet X" deep in the solar system. This hypothetical Neptune-sized planet orbits our Sun in a highly elongated orbit far beyond Pluto.
RPS 3D Viewer - NASA Solar System Exploration
2024年12月19日 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.
In Depth | Enceladus – NASA Solar System Exploration
2008年10月9日 · About as wide as Arizona, Enceladus orbits Saturn at a distance of 148,000 miles (238,000 kilometers) between the orbits of two other moons, Mimas and Tethys. Enceladus is tidally locked with Saturn, keeping the same face toward the planet. It completes one orbit every 32.9 hours within the densest part of Saturn's E Ring.
In Depth | Earth – NASA Solar System Exploration
As Earth orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every 23.9 hours. It takes 365.25 days to complete one trip around the Sun. That extra quarter of a day presents a challenge to our calendar system, which counts one year as 365 days.