Beyond the Solar System

This guide covers some of the highlights of the universe outside our own little cosmic neighborhood, from the inner workings of stars to the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter.

Beyond the Solar System: Stars

Stars: Cosmic Beacons
The Main Sequence
Sun cutaway
Colorful Dwarfs
The diagram shows the largest and smallest stars to scale.
Exploding Stars
An X-ray image of Kepler's supernova of 1604.
Black Holes
A black hole 'steals' gas from a companion star, form a hot accretion disk.

Beyond the Solar System: Planets

Extrasolar Planets
Rings encircle a young planet in this artist's concept.
Signs of Life
An artist's concept of a giant planet orbiting a star other than the Sun.
Finding Planets
Artist's concept of a possible Neptune-mass planet orbiting Rho 1 Cancri.

Beyond the Solar System: Galaxies

Galaxies: Cities of Stars
Nurseries of bright young stars glow red in this detailed image.
Types of Galaxies
Galaxy Formation
What looks like the glowing eyes of an angry cybernetic owl in this Hubble Space
The Milky Way
The Sun and our solar system lie in the "thin disk" of our galaxy.
The Local Group
Close up of Andromeda galaxy.
Galaxies Fade

Beyond the Solar System: Cosmology

Cosmology: The Whole Universe
Cosmology
Age of the Universe
Tiny variations in the "afterglow" of the Big Bang are shown as different colors
Dark Matter
In galaxy cluster CL0024+1654, each yellow dot is a galaxy.
Dark Energy
The universe seems to be pervaded with a previously unknown, and still unexplain

Beyond the Solar System: Energy

Energy: Tools of the Trade

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