Solar System Exploration

Join us as we explore our planetary neighborhood: The Sun, planets, moons, and millions of asteroids and comets.

featured missions

All SCIENCE MISSIONS

Illustration of the surface of Europa - shown as icy blue - with Jupiter behind it, and the Europa Clipper spacecraft in front of Jupiter.

Europa Clipper

Launching Oct. 10, 2024, to Jupiter's icy moon, Europa.

This artist's-concept illustration depicts the spacecraft of NASA's Psyche mission near the mission's target, the metal asteroid Psyche.

Psyche

Launched on a mission to a metal-rich asteroid, arriving 2029.

The image is zoomed in on Earth's globe, which takes up the entirety of the frame. In front of it hovers a metal box with wings.

OSIRIS-APEX

On its way to explore asteroid Apophis.

Lucy_Eyes-640x480

Lucy

En route to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.

Perseverance Rover

Exploring the surface of Mars since 2021.

An artistic visualization of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft hovering above the surface of Asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft is silver, shiny with two wings on the top and a long extension from the bottom.

OSIRIS-REx

Delivered asteroid Bennu sample in September 2023.

NASA Curiosity rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager MAHLI to capture the set of thumbnail images stitched together to create this full-color self-portrait.

Curiosity Rover

Exploring the surface of Mars since 2012.

spacecraft above lunar horizon with Earth in background

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Orbiting the Moon since 2009.

BepiColombo Mission

BepiColombo*

En route to Mercury orbit in 2025. *ESA/JAXA-led.

Illustration of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter over Mars.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Orbiting Mars since 2006.

artist's concept of MAVEN and Mars

MAVEN

Orbiting Mars since 2014.

Mars Odyssey orbiter over the north polar region

Mars Odyssey

Orbiting Mars since 2001.

Artist's concept of Mars Express at Mars.

Mars Express*

Orbiting Mars since 2003. *ESA-led.

NEOWISE spacecraft icon

NEOWISE

Asteroid and comet hunter since 2009.

Juno

Orbiting Jupiter since 2016.

New Horizons

Exploring the Kuiper Belt since 2015.

Artist's concept of the JUICE spacecraft.

JUICE*

Jupiter moon arrival in 2034. *ESA-led.

Solar System Overview

The solar system has one star, eight planets, five dwarf planets, at least 290 moons, more than 1.3 million asteroids, and about 3,900 comets. It is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy called the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur. Our solar system orbits the center of the galaxy at about 515,000 mph (828,000 kph). It takes about 230 million years to complete one orbit around the galactic center.

We call it the solar system because it is made up of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by gravity – the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres, Makemake, Haumea, and Eris – along with hundreds of moons; and millions of asteroids, comets, and meteoroids.

WEBBY AWARDS

NASA Receives 13 Webby Nominations

The nominees include Europa Clipper's 'Message in a Bottle' campaign. Click the link below to cast your vote for NASA's nominees.

An artist's concept of Jupiter with the Europa Clipper spacecraft in front of the planet. The text on the illustration announces the Message in a Bottle campaign has been nominated for a Webby.

An illustration announcing the Europa Clipper Message in a Bottle campaign has been nominated for a Webby.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

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.

Many Worlds

Our solar system has a star, eight planets, five dwarf planets, and thousands of asteroids, and comets.

Spitzer Milky Way 1600px

Meet Me in the Orion Arm

Our solar system orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy. We’re in one of the galaxy’s four spiral arms.

Sun and planets in solar system

A Long Way Around

It takes our solar system about 230 million years to complete one orbit around the galactic center.

Sun in Milky Way

Spiraling Through Space

There are three general kinds of galaxies: elliptical, irregular, and spiral. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy.

The blue limb of Earth as viewed from the space station.

Room to Breathe

Our solar system has no atmosphere. But it has many worlds – including Earth – with many kinds of atmospheres.

Many Moons

Our solar system has more than 200 moons.

Ring Worlds

The four giant planets – and at least one asteroid – have rings.

Man in the moon with American flag

Getting Out There

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

Earth blue marble photo

Life as We Know It

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

Artist's rendition of NASA's Voyager spacecraft

Going Interstellar

The Voyagers are the only spacecraft to reach interstellar space.

Earth Day 2024

This year, you can celebrate Earth Day with NASA wherever you are! Check out our Earth Day Toolkit.

An artist's concept showing sea creatures swimming in the ocean.

Solar System Facts

Orange sun with colorful planets trailing out to one side.

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 Our Solar System

Animated GIF showing two views of MU69.

10 Things About the Kuiper Belt

A white, grey, and black pixelated image, with three bright blobs spaced out across the center, and circled in white.

All About Asteroid Apophis

When is the Next Full Moon?

Our detailed daily guide to the night sky includes full Moon lore, eclipses, asteroid flybys, and more.

Full Moon in a black sky

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

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Latest News

Comet Geyser: Perseverance’s 24th Rock Core

The partially illuminated core is visible in this image of Perseverance’s coring bit. The diameter of the core is 1.3 cm.

NASA’s Dragonfly Rotorcraft Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan Confirmed

Artist’s concept of Dragonfly soaring over the dunes of Saturn’s moon Titan.

BioNutrients-3 Experiment Completed During Analog Astronaut Mission

NASA to Host a Pair of Briefings for Starliner Crew Flight

NASA Observations Find What Helps Heat Roots of ‘Moss’ on Sun

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Space Biosciences Tri-Valley Innovation Fair 2024

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Dirigentes de la NASA visitarán México, se fortalecerá cooperación espacial

Kate A. McGinnis: Ready to “Go” with PACE Testing

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Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Planets

A montage shows the planets to scale from Mercury on the left to Neptune on the right.

Eclipses

Image of a solar eclipse

Kuiper Belt

Illustration of spacecraft near a giant space rock far from the Sun.

Oort Cloud

This image shows comet C/2018 Y1 Iwamoto as imaged in multiple exposures of infrared light by NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) space telescope.