Solar System Exploration

Join us as we explore our solar system.

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.

5. A Long Way Around

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

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.

9. Getting Out There

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

10. Life as We Know It

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

Solar System Overview

Our solar system has one star, eight planets, five officially named dwarf planets, hundreds of moons, thousands of comets, and more than a million asteroids.

Featured Story

Could Life Exist Below Mars Ice? NASA Study Proposes Possibilities

Researchers think meltwater beneath Martian ice could support microbial life. While actual evidence for life on Mars has never been…

Read the Story

our latest mission

Europa Clipper Sets Sail

NASA’s Europa Clipper has embarked on its long voyage to Jupiter, where it will investigate Europa, a moon with an enormous subsurface ocean that may have conditions to support life. The spacecraft launched at 12:06 p.m. EDT Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Europa Clipper lifts off from the launch pad atop a white rocket with two smaller side boosters. A bright, white and orange pillar of fire shoots from the bottom of the rocket stack. White smoke billows around the launch pad. The fixed service structure is to the right of the rocket.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Oct. 14, 2024.

SpaceX

Comets

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Arrives from Afar

Skywatchers are being treated to a rare sight over the next few days. Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, which likely traveled from the outer reaches of our solar system, made its closest transit past the Sun on September 27 and came within approximately 44 million miles (70 million kilometers) of Earth on October 12. The comet was visible in the Southern Hemisphere and the Tropics until about October 8. It's now visible in Northern Hemisphere. The best time to observe is before October 24 using binoculars or a small telescope.

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Crew aboard the International Space Station have been observing Tsuchinshan-ATLAS on its journey through the inner solar system. An astronaut captured this photo of the comet on Sept. 19, 2024.

NASA/Expedition 71 Crew

Skywatching Resources

NASA's Skywatching Hub
Tips and guides for watching the skies.
Explore
'What's Up'
NASA's 'What's Up' monthly skywatching video.
Watch
Daily Guide
A detailed guide to the next full Moon, comets, meteor showers and more.
October's Guide
Night Sky Planner
Visible planets and night sky guide for October.
Learn More

A man looks through a telescope at twilight.

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

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Solar System Feature Stories

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

Planet Sizes and Locations

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

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

Storms Across the Solar System

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

What's That Space Rock?

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

10 Things: Grand Canyons

Hubble Tours the Solar System

More About Hubble

upper left: Jupiter, upper right: Saturn, lower left: Uranus, lower right: Neptune

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.

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.