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Saturn: 3.793 1187 (9) × 10 16: Uranus: 5. ... T in years and M the total mass relative to that of the Sun, we get a ... μ is twice the semi-major axis times the ...
The asteroid and comet belts orbit the Sun from the inner rocky planets into outer parts of the Solar System, interstellar space. [16] [17] [18] An astronomical unit, or AU, is the distance from Earth to the Sun, which is approximately 150 billion meters (93 million miles). [19] Small Solar System objects are classified by their orbits: [20] [21]
To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 −15 meters and 10 −14 meters (1 femtometer and 10 fm). 1 fm – diameter of a neutron, approximate range-limit of the color force carried between quarks by gluons [6] [7] 1.5 fm – diameter of the scattering cross section of an 11 MeV proton with a target ...
Pluto has a moderately eccentric and inclined orbit, ranging from 30 to 49 astronomical units (4.5 to 7.3 billion kilometres; 2.8 to 4.6 billion miles) from the Sun. Light from the Sun takes 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its orbital distance of 39.5 AU (5.91 billion km; 3.67 billion mi).
In gravitationally bound systems, the orbital speed of an astronomical body or object (e.g. planet, moon, artificial satellite, spacecraft, or star) is the speed at which it orbits around either the barycenter (the combined center of mass) or, if one body is much more massive than the other bodies of the system combined, its speed relative to the center of mass of the most massive body.
For instance, a small body in circular orbit 10.5 cm above the surface of a sphere of tungsten half a metre in radius would travel at slightly more than 1 mm/s, completing an orbit every hour. If the same sphere were made of lead the small body would need to orbit just 6.7 mm above the surface for sustaining the same orbital period.
Saturn is the only planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water—about 30% less. [39] Although Saturn's core is considerably denser than water, the average specific density of the planet is 0.69 g/cm 3, because of the atmosphere. Jupiter has 318 times Earth's mass, [40] and Saturn is 95 times Earth's mass. [6]
In 1729, Bradley used this method to derive that light travelled 10 210 times faster than the Earth in its orbit (the modern figure is 10 066 times faster) or, equivalently, that it would take light 8 minutes 12 seconds to travel from the Sun to the Earth.