| Body | Solar Distance (106 km) | Equatorial Diameter (km) | Orbital Period (years) | Orbital Inclination (degrees) |
| Sun | – | 1,391,400 | – | 0 |
| Mercury | 57.91 | 4,879 | 0.24 | 7.0° |
| Venus | 108.2 | 12,104 | 0.615 | 3.39° |
| Earth | 149.6 | 12,742 | 1.000 | 0 |
| (Moon) | – | 3,474 | 1.000 | 5.15° |
| Mars | 227.9 | 6,779 | 1.882 | 1.85° |
| asteroid belt | 329-478 | – | 3.0-6.0 | – |
| Jupiter | 778.5 | 139,822 | 11.956 | 1.31° |
| Saturn | 1429 | 116,464 | 29.457 | 2.49° |
| Uranus | 2871 | 50,724 | 84.02 | 0.77° |
| Neptune | 4498 | 49,244 | 164.793 | 1.77° |
| Pluto | 5909 | 2,274 | 248.4 | 17.1° |
The Solar System consists of the Sun and all the bodies held to orbits around it by the force of its magnetic field. These bodies include the nine planets and their sixty-one natural satellites (moons) plus countless asteroids, meteoroids and comets. Pluto’s orbit marks the outer boundary of the planetary system but many objects lie well beyond this with some of the comets travelling perhaps halfway to the nearest star.
The terrestrial (relating to Earth) planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are relatively small, similar in composition and density, and because they lie between the Sun and the asteroid belt they are known as the inner planets. The gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are called the great or Jovian planets, and because they lie beyond the asteroid belt they are known, together with Pluto, as the outer planets. Pluto itself is more like an asteroid.
Leave a Reply