In Depth | Our Solar System – NASA Solar System Exploration
There are more than 200 known moons in our solar system and several more awaiting confirmation of discovery. Of the eight planets, Mercury and Venus are the only ones with no moons. The giant planets Jupiter and Saturn lead our solar system’s moon counts.
In Depth | Pluto – NASA Solar System Exploration
Discovered in 1930, Pluto was long considered our solar system's ninth planet. But after the discovery of similar intriguing worlds deeper in the distant Kuiper Belt, icy Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet.
In Depth | Oumuamua – NASA Solar System Exploration
The first known interstellar object to visit our solar system, 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua, was discovered Oct. 19, 2017 by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope, funded by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations (NEOO) Program, which finds and tracks asteroids and comets in Earth’s neighborhood. While originally classified as a comet ...
In Depth | Neptune – NASA Solar System Exploration
More than 30 times as far from the Sun as Earth, Neptune is the only planet in our solar system not visible to the naked eye. In 2011 Neptune completed its first 165-year orbit since its discovery in 1846.
In Depth | Eris – NASA Solar System Exploration
Dwarf planet Eris is a member of a group of objects that orbit in a disc-like zone beyond the orbit of Neptune called the Kuiper Belt. This distant realm is populated with thousands of miniature icy worlds, which formed early in the history of our solar system about 4.5 billion years ago.
Enceladus | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
Scientists discovered evidence of Enceladus’ internal ocean from gravity measurements based on the Doppler effect and the magnitude of the moon’s very slight wobble as it orbits Saturn. The data was consistent with the existence of a large global ocean inside the moon.
In Depth | Jupiter – NASA Solar System Exploration
Jupiter is the fifth planet from our Sun and is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system – more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined. Jupiter's stripes and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.
Titan | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
2024年11月20日 · NASA's Cassini spacecraft would eventually complete more than 100 targeted flybys of Titan, sending European Space Agency’s Huygens probe to land on the mysterious, alien world—the first landing on a surface in the outer solar system.
10 Things to Expect in Planetary Science for 2021 - NASA Solar …
2021年1月28日 · New missions and new milestones are on the calendar for 2021. Here are some of the things to watch for in planetary science, as we continue to explore and learn about our incredible solar system.
Rings | Science – NASA Solar System Exploration
In the 400 years since Galileo's discovery, the rings have become Saturn’s telltale feature and are perhaps the most recognized characteristic of any world in our solar system. Cassini spent more than a decade examining them more closely than any spacecraft has before.