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Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by gravity. These objects are the eight planets (since Pluto is no lonnger classed as a planet) and their 166 known moons; four dwarf planets and their four known moons, and billions of small bodies, including asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets, meteoroids, and interplanetary dust.
In broad terms, the charted regions of the Solar System consist of the Sun; four terrestrial inner planets; an asteroid belt composed of small rocky bodies; four gas giant outer planets; a second belt, the Kuiper belt, composed of two icy, dwarf planets and Kuiper belt objects; the scattered disc, composed of the dwarf planet Eris and icy scattered disc objects; the heliopause; and ultimately the hypothetical Oort cloud.
In order of their distances from the Sun, the terrestrial planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
The outer gas giants (or Jovians) are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Four objects are classed as dwarf planets as of mid-2008, though the list is expected to grow:
Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt;
Pluto, the largest known object in the Kuiper belt;
Makemake, the largest classical Kuiper belt object.
Eris, the largest known object in the scattered disc.
Six of the eight planets and two of the dwarf planets are in turn orbited by natural satellites, usually termed "moons" after Earth's Moon, and each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other particles. All the planets except Earth are named after deities from Greco-Roman mythology.
Five planets were known in antiquity because all could be observed moving against the background stars with the naked eye. These were: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus was discovered telescopically on March 13, 1781 by William and Caroline Herschel. Neptune's orbit was predicted mathematically and it was finally obsevered at the calculated position on September 23, 1846.
Pluto, which was formerly classed as a planet, was discovered telescopically by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930.
| Solar System Links & Resources
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| Solar System Links & Resources
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The Nine Planets The Nine Planets provides an overview of the
history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets
and moons in our solar system. Each page has text and images and some have
sounds and movies.
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Views of the Solar System Views of the Solar System contains a wealth
of information about the Sun, planets, satellites, asteroids, comets and
meteoroids.
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Welcome to the Planets This is a collection of many of the best images from NASA's planetary exploration program.
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Planetary Photojournal A huge range of photos of bodies in the Solar System. The site is updated regularly with new images, includling images from ongoing missions.
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Solar System Exploration NASA site providing facts and information about the planets and moons in our Solar System.
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Solar System
JPL site providing facts and information about the planets and moons in our Solar System along with recent news and things to watch out for.
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Solar System Simulator This excellent site allows you to simulate what the solar system looks like, at any time, provides browsable planet maps and artwork, rendered spacecraft models and much more.
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Solar System Live
An interactive orrery on the web. Controls allow you to set time and date, viewpoint, observing location, orbital elements to track an asteroid or comet, and a variety of other parameters.
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Solar System News
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20 Nov 2008 at 10:34pm
Now is right time to invest in better grid for Houston Houston Chronicle, United States - 25 minutes ago And note that even the cost per kilowatt of power from a solar system year round will be less than from conventional diesel backup generators used only ... |
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20 Nov 2008 at 8:55pm  Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Dawn Glides Into New Year Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CA - 2 hours ago These two icons of the asteroid belt have been witness to so much of our solar system's history. By utilizing the same set of instruments at two separate ... |
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20 Nov 2008 at 12:53pm
OPEL Installs 9.5 kW Solar System MarketWatch - 10 hours ago The solar installation is a complete, turnkey system that features OPEL's Mk-I high concentration photovoltaic panels (HCPV), along with OPEL's Mk-III low ... |
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20 Nov 2008 at 10:46am
US Bancorp commits $105M to solar-panel venture SunRun Bizjournals.com, NC - 12 hours ago Under the deal, Minneapolis-based US Bancorp has committed up to $105 million in so-called “tax equity” to help finance 2000 residential solar system ... UPDATE 1-US Bancorp commits financing to SunRun Reuters SunRun lands financing for solar panel leasing CNET News SunRun Receives $105M in Financing from Bancorp SustainableBusiness.com VentureBeat - Cleantech Group all 25 news articles |
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19 Nov 2008 at 1:28pm
Clump of dark matter may loom near solar system Reuters - Nov 19, 2008 It detected an unexpected amount of very high energy cosmic ray electrons coming from an unknown source within about 3000 light years of the solar system. ... Cosmic Rays Coming From Mysterious, Nearby Object RedOrbit Mysterious Source of High-Energy Cosmic Radiation Discovered MarketWatch Scientists ponder mysterious source of cosmic rays Register TG Daily - Hindu Business Line all 83 news articles |
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19 Nov 2008 at 11:53am
Glimpse of solar system’s birth Hindu, India - Nov 19, 2008 Scientists are tracking the violent convulsions in the giant cloud of gas and dust that gave birth to the solar system 4.5 billion years ago via a few tiny ... |
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18 Nov 2008 at 4:31pm  Domestic Fuel |
Bella Energy Installs Solar Electric System on Colorado State Capitol MarketWatch - Nov 18, 2008 LOUISVILLE, Colo., Nov 18, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Bella Energy's 10 kilowatt solar electric system on the Colorado State Capitol is part of the ... Bella Energy Installs Solar Electric System on Colorado State Capitol International Business Times Governor Schwarzenegger Advances State's Renewable Energy Development NewsBlaze all 18 news articles |
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