1 day / second
0.5 AU
Sol (The Sun)
Star
A massive yellow dwarf star that contains 99.86% of the Solar System's mass and powers almost all life and weather on Earth through nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core.
Key Facts
mass | 1.9885e+30 kg |
radius | 695,700 km |
sidereal rotation period | 25.38 days |
axial tilt | 7.25º |
surface gravity | 27.961 g |
age | 4.6 billion years |
star type | G-type main-sequence star (yellow dwarf) |
temperature (center) | 15,700,000 K |
temperature (corona) | 5,000,000 K |
discovery date | Visible to naked eye since ancient times |
name origins | From Old English "sunne", ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ |
dimensions | Radius: 695,700 km |
rotation period | Variable by latitude due to being plasma, ~25 days at equator |
material composition | ~74% hydrogen, ~24% helium, ~2% heavier elements |
spacecraft missions | SOHO (1995-present), SDO (2010-present), Parker Solar Probe (2018-present), Solar Orbiter (2020-present) |
temperature | Surface (photosphere): 5,772 K, Core: ~15.7 million K |
mass | 1.989 × 10^30 kg (1 solar mass) |
Major Planets
Mercury
The smallest and innermost planet in our Solar System, Mercury is a heavily cratered, airless world that experiences extreme temperature swings due to its proximity to the Sun and lack of atmosphere.
Venus
A scorching hot rocky planet with thick clouds of sulfuric acid, crushing atmospheric pressure 90 times that of Earth, and a surface hot enough to melt lead due to a runaway greenhouse effect.
Earth
A life-bearing terrestrial planet with a significant atmosphere, active geology, and a large moon, distinguished by its vast oceans of liquid water and diverse ecosystems that make it unique in the Solar System.
Mars
A cold, dusty red planet with massive extinct volcanoes, deep canyons, frozen polar caps, and evidence of ancient water flows, making it the most Earth-like planet in the Solar System.
Jupiter
The largest planet in the Solar System, Jupiter is a gas giant with distinctive bands of swirling clouds, a powerful magnetic field, at least 95 moons, and an ongoing storm called the Great Red Spot that has raged for centuries.
Saturn
A massive ringed gas giant with a distinctive yellow-orange hue, known for its extensive system of icy rings and more than 80 moons, including Titan, the only moon in the Solar System with a thick atmosphere.
Uranus
A cold, blue-green ice giant planet tipped nearly sideways on its axis, with a set of narrow rings and a family of at least 27 moons named after literary characters.
Neptune
The eighth and most distant planet, Neptune is a cold, windy ice giant with a vivid blue color, powerful storms, supersonic winds reaching 1,200 mph, and a collection of 14 known moons including the geologically active Triton.
Spacecraft Visits
Parker Solar Probe
Orbiter
Launched in 2018, entered orbit in 2018
A NASA spacecraft launched in 2018 that uses multiple Venus gravity assists to incrementally lower its orbit, allowing it to repeatedly dive through the Sun's outer atmosphere while breaking records for both closest solar approach and fastest human-made object.
Solar Orbiter
Orbiter
Launched in 2020, entered orbit in 2020
A European-led solar observatory launched in 2020 that studies the Sun from a highly elliptical orbit, getting as close as 42 million kilometers to capture unprecedented views of the solar poles and measure the solar wind.
