Our solar system is made up of a star, eight planets, and countless smaller bodies such as dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets. Our solar system orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy at about 515,000 mph (828,000 kph). We''re in one of the galaxy''s four spiral arms.
Our sun Sol is just one of more than a couple hundred billion stars that make up our home galaxy: the Milky Way. Our home lies within the disk of the Milky Way. It''s the disk where most of the galaxy''s gas and dust is located. As a result this is
The essential modern picture is that our solar system is located on the inner edge of a spiral arm, about 25,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy, which is in the direction of
Our sun lies near a small, partial arm called the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur, located between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms. Like early explorers mapping the continents of our globe, astronomers are busy charting the
The planetary system we call home is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. 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
Our solar system lies about 2/3 of the way out from the galactic center. We''re 26,000 light-years from the center, or 153,000 trillion miles (246,000 trillion km).
Our Sun is located nearly 27,000 light-years from the Milky Way''s nucleus, or about halfway between its center and the edge. Our Solar System is placed between two main arms — Scutum-Centaurus and Perseus, within the small partial arm named the Orion Arm or Orion Spur.
With the discovery that "spiral nebulae" were other far-off galaxies, our place in the universe was established: we live in one galaxy much like many others. Today, astronomers study the Milky Way to understand its history, structure, contents, and our place in the galaxy.
The Milky Way Galaxy is organized into spiral arms of giant stars that illuminate interstellar gas and dust. The Sun is in a finger called the Orion Spur. Overlaid is a graphic of galactic longitude in relation to our Sun. Credit: NASA/Adler/U. Chicago/Wesleyan/JPL-Caltech
Just as Earth orbits the sun, the solar system orbits the center of the Milky Way. Despite hurtling through space at speeds of around 515,000mph (828,000kmph) our solar system takes approximately