The Sun is a yellow dwarf star, a hot ball of glowing
gases at the heart of our solar system. Its gravity
holds everything from the biggest planets to tiny
debris in its orbit.
STAR-TYPE Yellow dwarf
AGE ~4.5 billion years
Parker Solar Probe
NASA's historic Parker
Solar Probe mission is revolutionizing our understanding
of the Sun, where changing conditions can propagate out
into the solar system, affecting Earth and other worlds.
Parker Solar Probe travels through the Sun's atmosphere,
closer to the surface than any spacecraft before it,
facing brutal heat and radiation conditions to provide
humanity with the closest-ever observations of a star.
LAUNCH August 12, 2018
LAUNCH SITE Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Mercury
Mercury—the smallest planet
in our solar system and closest to the Sun—is only slightly larger
than Earth's Moon. Mercury is the fastest planet, zipping
around the Sun every 88 Earth days.
LENGTH OF YEAR 88 Earth Days
MOONS 0 Moon
Venus
Venus spins slowly in the
opposite direction from most planets. A thick atmosphere
traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect, making it the
hottest planet in our solar system.
LENGTH OF YEAR 225 Earth Days
MOONS 0 Moon
Earth
Earth—our home planet—is
the only place we know of so far that's inhabited by
living things. It's also the only planet in our solar
system with liquid water on the surface.
LENGTH OF YEAR 365 Earth Days
MOONS 1 Moon
Moon
Earth's Moon is the only
place beyond Earth where humans have set foot, so far.
The Moon makes our planet more livable by moderating how
much it wobbles on its axis.
LENGTH OF YEAR 27 Earth Days
HUMAN VISITORS 24
Mars
Mars is a dusty, cold,
desert world with a very thin atmosphere. There is strong
evidence Mars was—billions of years ago—wetter and warmer,
with a thicker atmosphere.
LENGTH OF YEAR 687 Earth Days
MOONS 2 Moons
Jupiter
Jupiter is more than twice
as massive than the other planets of our solar system
combined. The giant planet's Great Red spot is a centuries-old
storm bigger than Earth.
LENGTH OF YEAR 4,333 Earth Days
MOONS 79 Moons
Saturn
Adorned with a dazzling,
complex system of icy rings, Saturn is unique in our solar
system. The other giant planets have rings, but none are as
spectacular as Saturn's.
LENGTH OF YEAR 10,759 Earth Days
MOONS 62 Moons
Uranus
Uranus—seventh planet from
the Sun—rotates at a nearly 90-degree angle from the plane of
its orbit. This unique tilt makes Uranus appear to spin on its
side.
LENGTH OF YEAR 30,687 Earth Days
MOONS 27 Moons
Neptune
Neptune—the eighth and
most distant major planet orbiting our Sun—is dark, cold and
whipped by supersonic winds. It was the first planet located
through mathematical calculations, rather than by telescope.