The Solar System: Home Sweet Home
In the winter of 1504, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus watched as the planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn grouped close together in […]
Remnants from the Beginning
Yet many remained, and are still with us today: a small planet (and maybe more than one), icy planetesimals that
Realm of the Giants
The solar system’s outer realm contains four giant planets. The largest is Jupiter, at about 11 times Earth’s diameter. Despite
Exploring Our Own Back Yard
The structures of the terrestrial planets are similar. Each planet has a layered structure that developed through a process called
What is the biggest moon in the solar system?
That is a tricky question, which astronomers didn’t answer correctly until fairly recently. For a while, they thought the biggest
Who made the first map of the universe?
Maps of the stars are nearly as ancient as human culture itself; inscriptions describing the positions of stars and constellations
How big is the solar system?
The farthest known object orbiting our Sun is a ball of ice and rock unofficially called FarFarOut, which lies about
Is there a tenth planet in our solar system?
No. On August 23, 2006, the International Astronomical Union decided that the solar system contains only eight planets. Pluto, which