Solar System · The Sun and its planets, out to Neptune
Solar System
You are here · Light crosses it in 8.3 hours
- Across
- 9.0 billion km
- Vs Earth
- 60 AU across
- Mass
- 1 Sun
Open Solar System in Cosmic Scale
About
The Sun and everything bound to it: eight planets, hundreds of moons, millions of asteroids and comets, all formed 4.6 billion years ago from one collapsing cloud of gas and dust. Drawn here out to Neptune's orbit.
Light from the Sun takes about four hours to reach Neptune.
At a glance
| Age | 4.6 billion years |
|---|---|
| Neptune's orbit | 30 AU from the Sun |
| Heliopause | About 120 AU |
| Planets | Eight |
Did you know
- Sunlight takes 8 minutes to reach Earth and just over 4 hours to reach Neptune.
- Voyager 1 crossed into interstellar space in 2012 and is now more than 160 AU away.
- The Sun holds 99.86% of all the mass here; Jupiter accounts for most of the rest.
Real photo
- The Family Portrait: the first picture of the Solar System from outside, Voyager 1, 1990 — NASA/JPL · source