![A bright orange sun surrounded by planets of various sizes and colors and circles showing the orbits.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/pia11800-our-solar-system-features-eight-planets-16x9-1.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Solar System Exploration
Join us as we explore our planetary neighborhood: The Sun, planets, moons, and millions of asteroids and comets.
Solar System Overview
The solar system has one star, eight planets, five dwarf planets, at least 290 moons, more than 1.36 million asteroids, and about 4,500 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.
10 THINGS about our solar system
NASA’s Planetary Radar Tracks Two Large Asteroid Close Approaches
The Deep Space Network’s Goldstone planetary radar had a busy few days observing asteroids 2024 MK and 2011 UL21 as…
Read the Story![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1-2024mk-16.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
![A man looks through a telescope at twilight.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7457588672-61c58e8f44-k-jpg.webp?w=4096&format=png)