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Since the dawn of the Space Age in the 1950s and the discovery of exoplanets in the 1990s, the model has been both challenged and refined to account for new observations. The Solar System has evolved considerably since its initial formation.
It formed about 4.6 billion years ago when a dense region of a molecular cloud collapsed, forming the Sun and a protoplanetary disc. The Sun is a typical star that maintains a balanced equilibrium by the fusion of hydrogen into helium at its core, releasing this energy from its outer photosphere.
The Big Bang brought the Universe into existence 13.8 billion years ago. Our solar system formed much later, about 4.6 billion years ago. It began as a gigantic cloud of dust and gas created by leftover supernova debris—the death of other stars created our own.
In the ancient world, theories of the origin of Earth and the objects seen in the sky were certainly much less constrained by fact. Indeed, a scientific approach to the origin of the solar system became possible only after the publication of Isaac Newton’s laws of motion and gravitation in 1687.
The solar system has eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. There are five officially recognized dwarf planets in our solar system: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. Get the Facts.
Explore the 3D world of the Solar System. Learn about past and future missions.
Solar system, assemblage consisting of the Sun and those bodies orbiting it: 8 planets with about 210 known planetary satellites; many asteroids, some with their own satellites; comets and other icy bodies; and vast reaches of highly tenuous gas and dust known as the interplanetary medium.
The history of scientific thought about the formation and evolution of the Solar System began with the Copernican Revolution. The first recorded use of the term "Solar System" dates from 1704.
Our story starts about 4.6 billion years ago, with a wispy cloud of stellar dust. This cloud was part of a bigger cloud called a nebula. At some point, the cloud collapsed—possibly because the shockwave of a nearby exploding star caused it to compress.
Our solar system includes the Sun, eight planets, five officially named dwarf planets, and hundreds of moons, and thousands of asteroids and comets. Our solar system is located in the Milky Way, a barred spiral galaxy with two major arms, and two minor arms.