Our Solar System
- Visualizations by:
- Amy Moran
- View full credits
Planets, asteroids, and comets orbit our Sun. They travel around our Sun in a flattened circle called an ellipse. It takes the Earth one year to go around the Sun. Mercury goes around the Sun in only 88 days. It takes Pluto, the most famous dwarf planet, 248 years to make one trip around the Sun.
Moons orbit planets. Right now, Jupiter has the most named moons—50. Mercury and Venus don't have any moons. Earth has one. It is the brightest object in our night sky. The Sun, of course, is the brightest object in our daytime sky. It lights up the moon, planets, comets, and asteroids.
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Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington (Mercury), USGS Astrogeology Science Center (Venus, Mars), NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Space Telescope Science Institute (Jupiter), NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute (Saturn) and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (Earth, Jupiter, Uranus)
Animator
- Amy Moran (GST) [Lead]