Forgot your password?  

Not What You Meant?  There are 46 definitions for Sol.  Also try: Solar or Sewell.

Solar System | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Print-Friendly   Order the PDF version   Order the RTF version
About 6 pages (1,768 words)
Solar system Summary

Purchase our Solar System


Solar System

Earth's solar system is comprised of the Sun, nine major planets, some 100,000 asteroids larger than 0.6 mi (1 km) in diameter, and perhaps 1 trillion cometary nuclei. While the major planets lie within 40 Astronomical Units (AU)—the average distance of Earth to the Sun—the outermost boundary of the solar system stretches to 1 million AU, one-third the way to the nearest star. Cosmologists and Astronomers assert that the solar system was formed through the collapse of a spinning cloud of interstellar gas and dust.

The central object in the solar system is the Sun. It is the largest and most massive object in the solar system; its diameter is 109 times that of Earth, and it is 333,000 times more massive. The extent of the solar system is determined by the gravitational attraction of the Sun. Indeed, the boundary of the solar system is defined as the surface within which the gravitational pull of the Sun dominates over that of the galaxy. Under this definition, the solar system extends outwards from the Sun to a distance of about 100,000 AU. The solar system is much larger, therefore, than the distance to the remotest known planet, Pluto, which orbits the Sun at a mean distance of 39.44 AU.

This page contains 201 words.

Purchase our Solar System article Solar System article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 1,768 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page).
Ask any question on Solar system and get it answered FAST!
Answer questions in BookRags Q&A and earn points toward
discounted or even FREE Study Guides and other BookRags products!
Learn more about BookRags Q&A
Copyrights
Solar System from World of Earth Science. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.

Join BookRagslearn moreJoin BookRags

Join BookRagslearn moreJoin BookRags