Solar System

Our solar system is filled with planets, asteroids, comets, the sun and more, making it a wealth of discoveries waiting to be found. See the latest discoveries from across our solar system here. 

Explore the planets in our solar system: Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Related topics: asteroids, Pluto, the moon, comets

Latest Updates

An artist's depiction of the first identified interstellar object to visit our solar system, 'Oumuamua.

Will we ever know the true nature of 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar visitor?

By Paul Sutter published

Astronomers have proposed lots of ideas to explain 'Oumuamua's odd characteristics, and we're unlikely ever to find out which one is correct.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus biography: Facts & discoveries

By Nola Taylor Tillman published

Nicolaus Copernicus proposed his theory that the planets revolved around the sun in the 1500s, when most people believed that Earth was the center of the universe.

This false-colored image, captured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, shows rings around a young star named HD163296 (not the sun).

The sun used to have rings like Saturn

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

Before Earth and the other planets in our solar system existed, the sun may have been surrounded by giant rings of dust similar to Saturn's, according to a new study.

An artist's depiction of an asteroid hitting Earth.

Mars and Earth likely formed from collisions of moon-sized rocks

By Charles Q. Choi published

Earth and Mars must have formed from collisions between giant moon-sized rocks rather than from clumping together of a huge amount of tiny pebbles, a new study found.

An artist's depiction of the largest bodies in the solar system (not to scale).

How did the solar system form?

By Nola Taylor Tillman last updated

The solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists have developed three models of how it happened.

coldest planet in the solar system

Curious Kids: What is the coldest planet in the solar system?

By Brad Gibson last updated

The heat inside planets is left over from when they were formed.

New images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope capture stunning views of the outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, as part of this year's "grand tour" of the solar system.

Hubble telescope's annual 'grand tour' tracks changes in outer solar system

By Samantha Mathewson last updated

It's time for the solar system's annual weather report!

An animation showing the location of the near-Earth asteroids discovered as of January 2018; Earth's orbit is marked by the white line.

Just how many threatening asteroids are there? It's complicated.

By Meghan Bartels published

So you've heard that an asteroid could slam into Earth wreaking all sorts of havoc, but just how many space rocks out there threaten our planet?

The European Space Agency's CESAR team captured this view of a lunar eclipse in January 2019.

What time is the Beaver Moon lunar eclipse?

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Here's when you can watch the longest partial lunar eclipse in 580 years.

An image of Comet 29P taken a few days after one of its super-outbursts.

This mysterious comet's super-bright outbursts have astronomers puzzled

By Tereza Pultarova published

One of the strangest comets in the solar system has been erupting with unpredictable bright outbursts since late September and nobody knows why.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured this view of the interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov on Oct. 12, 2019.

How much of the solar system is made of interstellar stuff?

By Paul Sutter last updated

The detection of interstellar objects in the solar system has raised an interesting question: How much of the solar system is made of foreign material?

This still from a NASA animation depicts a comet as it enters the inner solar system, with light from the sun warming the comet to create its coma and tail.

Wild idea: Tagalong spacecraft could watch a comet form

By Mike Wall published

A few decades from now, humanity could get an up-close look at a comet blazing to life for the first time.

An electron microscope image of a micron-sized silicon carbide stardust grain extracted from the Murchinson meteorite.

Ancient meteorites preserve building blocks of early solar system

By Tereza Pultarova published

Scientists have used a new method to analyse the composition of ancient grains in meteorites with unprecedented accuracy to shed light on their mysterious origin.

The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft captured this view of Mercury on Oct. 1, 2021 during the first of six flybys on its voyage to orbit the planet in 2025.

Mercury looks stunning in this 1st flyby photo from Europe and Japan's BepiColombo mission

By Tariq Malik published

The BepiColombo mission captured its first up-close look at the planet Mercury in a flyby, revealing a rocky world covered with craters.

Artwork showing the planets orbiting the sun (from inner to outer): Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Why do the planets in the solar system orbit on the same plane?

By JoAnna Wendel published

About 4.5 billion years ago, the solar system was just a giant, spinning cloud of gas and dust. Today, it's flat. Here's how that happened.

sun-like stars

A quarter of sunlike stars eat their own planets, according to new research

By Lorenzo Spina published

How rare is our solar system? In the 30 years or so since planets were first discovered orbiting stars other than our sun, we have found that planetary systems are common in the galaxy.

The outer solar system might be full of comets from other stars.

Interstellar comets visit our solar system more frequently than thought

By Tereza Pultarova published

Comets from other star systems, such as 2019 Borisov, visit the sun's neighborhood more frequently than scientists had thought, a new study suggests.

Titan's northernmost giant lake, Ligeia Mare, contains enough vinyl cyanide to form the cell membranes of ten million cells per cubic centimeter.

The five most impressive geological structures in the solar system

By David Rothery published

When we talk about amazing geological features, we often limit ourselves to those on Earth.

Artist’s illustration of the newfound asteroid 2021 PH27 (foreground), which orbits the sun every 113 Earth days. That’s faster than any other known solar system object except the planet Mercury (seen here below and to the left of 2021 PH27).

Fastest-orbiting asteroid in solar system discovered

By Mike Wall last updated

The newfound asteroid 2021 PH27 completes one lap around our star every 113 Earth days. That's the shortest orbital period of any known solar system object except the planet Mercury.

Our solar system

What does the edge of the solar system look like?

By Randyn Bartholomew last updated

Far-flung spacecraft are helping us learn about the solar system's edge.