Orange sun with colorful planets trailing out to one side.

Solar System Exploration


Join us as we explore our planetary neighborhood: The Sun, planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.

Solar System Overview

The solar system has one star, eight planets, five officially named dwarf planets, hundreds of moons, thousands of comets, and more than a million asteroids. Our solar system is located in the Milky Way, a barred spiral galaxy with two major arms, and two minor arms. Our Sun is in a small, partial arm of the Milky Way called the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur, between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms. Our solar system orbits the center of the galaxy at about 515,000 mph (828,000 kph). It takes about 230 million years to complete one orbit around the galactic center. We call it the solar system because it is made up of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity.

Get the latest count

  • Illustration of the Solar System.

    Moons, asteroids, and comets

    For the most up to date count of moons, asteroids, and comets in our solar system, please visit NASA/JPL's Solar System Dynamics website.

europa clipper

NASA Begins Post-Hurricane Milton Assessments at KSC

The Europa Clipper launch team will schedule an official launch date when teams from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, and SpaceX are able to assess the facilities, and confirm it is safe to launch. Teams are working to protect launch opportunities no earlier than Sunday, Oct. 13.

Read Our Blog
This artist's concept depicts a silver Europa Clipper spacecraft approaching a gray Europa with Jupiter looming large behind the moon.

Help Celebrate the Launch!

  1. 01

    Host a Launch Party

    Get ready to experience a once-in-a-lifetime event as NASA's Europa Clipper mission takes flight! This historic mission will explore Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, and you’re invited to host your very own watch party to share the excitement with friends, family, and fellow space enthusiasts. We’ve got everything you need to make your launch celebration out of this world.

    Visit Our Launch Party Hub

  2. An illustration calling for participation in a NASA public engagement activity for the Europa Clipper launch. This illustration has a pale blue background with outlines of narrow stars drawn in red, gold, and blue. It says Share Your Space Style, #RunwayToJupiter NASA Style Challenge. Enter by Oct. 10, 2024
    02

    #RunwayToJupiter Style Challenge

    Express your space style! Show off your outfits, makeup looks, nail art, and other creative expressions inspired by Jupiter's swirls, Europa's icy glam, and the exploration of the planets. Share your look with the hashtag #RunwayToJupiter for a chance to be featured on NASA’s website and social media channels.

    How to Participate

  3. A bright blue graphic with images cut in to promote NASA's Social Media Toolkit for the launch of Europa Clipper. It has seven small images related to the launch. It has the words Join Our Social Space in white lettering.
    03

    Get the Social Media Toolkit

    If you’re interested in sharing content about Europa Clipper on social media, this is your space!

    Get the Toolkit

  4. A woman points to a poster as a woman and child look on from across the table.
    04

    More Ways to Participate

    Explore this page for mission updates, activities, spacecraft models, posters, stickers, animations, and more. This content is suitable for educators, students, and anyone interested in the Europa Clipper mission.

    Explore Ways to Participate

Eyes on the Solar System: A real-time visualization of our solar system using planetary science data.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Hubble Tours the Solar System

More About Hubble
upper left: Jupiter, upper right: Saturn, lower left: Uranus, lower right: Neptune

Hubble’s Grand Tour of the Outer Solar System

Watch the Video
An orb with alternating diagonal bands of white, red, and orange is shown with a black sky in the background.

The Outer Planets: Hubble’s Continuing Legacy

Watch the Video
Hubble Focus-Our Amazing Solar System e-book cover

Hubble Focus: Our Amazing Solar System

Download the E-Book

10 THINGS about our solar system

This is an updated montage of planetary images taken by spacecraft managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Included are from top to bottom images of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

1. Many Worlds

Our solar system has eight planets, and five dwarf planets.

Gray-colored asteroid Bennu is shaped like a spinning top.

2. Small Worlds, Too

About 1.4 million asteroids, and about 4,000 comets are in our solar system.

3. Lots of Moons

Our solar system has more than 200 planetary moons.

A swirling Milky Way Galaxy, with our Sun seen on the outskirts.

4. Meet Me in the Milky Way

Our solar system is in one of the Milky Way galaxy’s spiral arms called the Orion Spur.

Sun and planets in solar system

5. A Long Way Around

Our solar system takes about 230 million years to orbit the galactic center.

Spitzer Milky Way 1600px

6. Spiraling Through Space

The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy.

The blue limb of Earth as viewed from the space station.

7. Room to Breathe

Our solar system has many worlds with many types of atmospheres.

8. Ring Worlds

The four giant planets – and at least one asteroid – have rings.

Man in the moon with American flag

9. Getting Out There

More than 300 robotic spacecraft have left Earth's orbit, and 24 U.S. astronauts have traveled to the Moon.

Earth blue marble photo

10. Life as We Know It

So far, Earth is the only place we've found life in our solar system.

Featured Missions

Explore our solar system with NASA. Here are some of our upcoming missions.

All NASA Science Missions
A spacecraft hovers over a reddish striped moon with planet Jupiter in the background.

Europa Clipper

NASA's Europa Clipper is the first mission designed to conduct a detailed science investigation of Jupiter's moon Europa.

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NASA's NEO Surveyor is seen in this illustration against an infrared observation of a starfield made by the agency's WISE mission.

NEO Surveyor

Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor is the first space telescope specifically designed to hunt asteroids and comets that may be potential hazards to Earth.

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A gray spacecraft is illustrated over Venus with one of its instruments scanning the planet below.

VERITAS

VERITAS, and another mission called DAVINCI, will be the first NASA spacecraft to explore Venus since the 1990s.

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Solar System Feature Stories

Illustration of eight planets and one dwarf planet displayed three across and three down.

Planet Sizes and Locations

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A colorful. symbolic thermometer showing planets in our solar system ordered from hottest a the top to coldest at the bottom. The top of the graphic is red, then it fades to orange, yellow, green, then blue. It has illustrations of the planets.

Temperatures Across the Solar System

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animation of clouds moving around Saturn's pole in a hexagonal formation

Storms Across the Solar System

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Pluto is reddish and has a heart shape lighter patch in the lower right half of this image from the New Horizons spacecraft.

Find Your Pluto Time

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two rocky asteroids in black space

What's That Space Rock?

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A full globe view of reddish Mars featuring Valles Marineris - which looks like a huge gash on the planet.

10 Things: Grand Canyons

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Skywatching Tips

NASA's guide to the night skies.

Learn More
Moon rising over a white building with domes sitting on a hillside.

Go Beyond Our Solar System

Featured Story

NASA, Global Astronomers Await Rare Nova Explosion

Around the world this summer, professional and amateur astronomers alike will be fixed on one small constellation deep in the…

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Solar System News

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Does Distant Planet Host Volcanic Moon Like Jupiter’s Io?

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NASA’s Hubble, New Horizons Team Up for a Simultaneous Look at Uranus

A four-panel image. The top two panels are diagrams of Uranus – spheres with gridlines going longitudinally and latitudinally. On the top left, the view from Hubble, the southern pole of the planet faces 3 o’clock. On the top right, the view from New Horizons, the southern pole faces 10 o’clock. The bottom left panel is Hubble’s actual view of Uranus – the planet is a light blue sphere, with a white circle covering the right half of the planet (the southern pole). The bottom right panel is the actual view of Uranus from New Horizons. The planet appears as a tiny whiteish dot.
Article
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Artemis I Radiation Measurements Validate Orion Safety for Astronauts

Article
4 min read

NASA’s Hubble Watches Jupiter’s Great Red Spot Behave Like a Stress Ball

Eight Hubble images showing Jupiter's Great Red Spot as it changes over time from December 2023 to March 2024.
An illustration showing the orbits of four newly named asteroids.
3 min read

Four Asteroids Named After NASA Volunteers

Article2 days ago
3 min read

NASA, NOAA to Provide Update on Progress of Solar Cycle

News Release
Artist concept image of an early wet Mars.
5 min read

NASA: New Insights into How Mars Became Uninhabitable

Article3 days ago
Two male cadets wearing solar viewing glasses stare with excitement into the distance.
3 min read

GLOBE Eclipse and Civil Air Patrol: An Astronomical Collaboration

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Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics

Planets

A montage shows the planets to scale from Mercury on the left to Neptune on the right.

Eclipses

Image of a solar eclipse

Kuiper Belt

Illustration of spacecraft near a giant space rock far from the Sun.

Oort Cloud

This image shows comet C/2018 Y1 Iwamoto as imaged in multiple exposures of infrared light by NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) space telescope.