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Ans. The solar system means the Sun and all the objects that move around it, like planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.
Q.2. How many planets are there in the solar system?
Ans. There are eight planets in the solar system, named Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Q.3. What is the solar system made up of?
Ans. The solar system is made up of the Sun, eight planets, their moons, asteroids, comets, and other small space objects.
Q.4. How did the solar system form?
Ans. The solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a big cloud of gas and dust that collapsed and started spinning, forming the Sun and planets.
Solar system - Facts, Formation & Composition
Curious to know what a solar system is? Discover how the solar system was formed, and learn about the eight planets in our solar system along with other interesting facts.
Jasdeep Singh9 Jun, 2025
Solar System: One common question students often ask when they start learning about space is, "What is meant by the solar system?" To explain the solar system, we can say that it is a large group of celestial bodies, which includes the Sun, eight planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and other small objects.
All these things move around the Sun, which is at the center and is a source of light and heat to the planets in our solar system. To explore more about the solar system and planets, keep reading.
The solar system is made up of the Sun and all the objects that move around it. This includes eight planets, their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, and many small icy bodies.
All these objects travel around the Sun because of a force called gravity. Even though there are many objects, most of the solar system is empty space.
Our solar system is just a small part of a much bigger group called the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way has billions of stars and many other things in space.
The solar system moves around the center of this galaxy, taking about 225 million years to complete one full circle. Understanding what the solar system is also helps us learn more about the planets and how they stay together.
The solar system was formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a large cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula. This cloud collapsed because of a powerful explosion called a supernova.
As the cloud shrank, it started to spin and became flat like a disk. The center of this disk became very hot and dense, and it formed the Sun.
Around the Sun, the leftover gas and dust slowly came together to make the eight planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.
The planets formed in rings around the Sun, while moons formed around the big gas planets. Comets stayed mostly in the outer parts of the solar system.
After the Sun was born, strong solar winds blew away the extra gas and dust that was left. This left behind the solid objects like asteroids and planets that we see today.
This process of forming the solar system from a spinning cloud of gas and dust is called the nebular theory.
Before learning about the planets in our solar system, it is important that students know what exactly planets mean.
Planets are large, round objects that move around the Sun. They do not make their own light. Instead, they use light from the sun. So, how many planets are there in solar system?
There are eight planets in our solar system. Each planet is different in size, surface, and what it is made of. Let's learn about them one by one.
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest one. It has no moons and its surface is very hot during the day and very cold at night.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is very bright and very hot. Venus spins slowly and has no moons.
Earth is the third planet and the only planet where we know life exists. It has water, air, and a protective atmosphere. Earth has one moon.
Mars is the fourth planet, known as the Red Planet because of its red soil. It has two small moons and cold weather.
Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system. It is a gas giant with many storms and 79 known moons, including the largest moon called Ganymede.
Saturn is famous for its beautiful rings made of ice and dust. It is the second-largest planet and has 82 moons.
Uranus is an ice giant that spins on its side. It is blue-green because of the gases in its atmosphere and has 27 moons.
Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun. It is blue, very cold, and has the strongest winds. Neptune has 14 moons.
These eight planets in the solar system are very different but together they form our amazing solar system. Knowing how many planets there are in solar system helps students understand the space we live in.
The planets in our solar system have many interesting facts that make them special. Some of them are:
Venus has a very slow rotation. One day on Venus takes 243 Earth days, which is longer than its year of 225 Earth days.
Mars has seasons just like Earth, but each season lasts much longer because Mars takes more time to go around the Sun.
Pluto used to be called the ninth planet, but now it is known as a dwarf planet. In 2006, scientists decided to remove Pluto from the list of planets.
Pluto’s path around the Sun is tilted and oval-shaped, so sometimes it moves closer to the Sun than Neptune, but they never collide because of a special gravitational rule.
Apart from the Sun and the eight main planets, our solar system also has many smaller objects. These are known as the minor members of the solar system. They might be small, but they are very important to understanding how our solar system was formed.
1. Moons (Satellites): Moons are natural satellites that orbit planets. Earth has one moon, but some planets like Jupiter and Saturn, have many. Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, is even bigger than the planet Mercury.
2. Asteroids: Asteroids are big pieces of rock or metal that move around the Sun, mostly found between Mars and Jupiter in an area called the asteroid belt. They are much smaller than planets and are sometimes called minor planets.
3. Comets: Comets are small objects made of ice, dust, and rock. They often come from far regions like the Kuiper Belt. When they come close to the Sun, their ice melts and forms a glowing tail. A famous comet is Halley's Comet, which can be seen from Earth every 76 years.
4. Dwarf Planets: Dwarf planets are round like planets and orbit the Sun, but they are smaller and haven’t cleared their orbit of other space objects. Pluto is a famous dwarf planet found beyond Neptune. Another one is Ceres, which lies in the asteroid belt.
5. Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud Objects: The Kuiper Belt is a region beyond Neptune filled with icy bodies and dwarf planets. Even farther is the Oort Cloud, a cloud of icy objects that may be the source of many comets.
6. Interplanetary Dust: Tiny bits of dust and rock float through space in the solar system. These are called interplanetary dust. They can create shooting stars when they enter Earth’s atmosphere.
Many get confused when it comes to the question "is the sun a planet or a star?" The answer is, the Sun is not a planet; it is a star. A star is a huge ball of hot gases that produces its own light and heat. The Sun gives light and heat to all the planets in our solar system.
Unlike planets, stars like the Sun shine because of the energy stored inside them. Planets only reflect the light they get from the Sun. So, the Sun is a star, and it is the center of our solar system.
Our solar system is just one special system with the Sun and the planets that move around it. But in the whole universe, there are many other stars like the Sun.
Scientists have found more than 3,200 stars in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, that have their own planets. These systems are called planetary systems.
There are about 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, so there could be many more solar systems we have not yet discovered. With new technology, astronomers are learning more about these distant systems every day. This shows that our solar system is just one part of a much bigger universe filled with many solar systems.
The Sun is a big star made of very hot gas. It gives us light and heat. All the planets in our solar system move around the Sun. But not everything moves around the Sun. For example, the Moon moves around the Earth.
There are eight planets in our solar system. Their order from the Sun is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Jupiter is the biggest planet, and Mercury is the smallest.
The Earth spins around once every day. This spinning provides us day and night. The Earth takes 365 days to go all the way around the Sun. This is called a year.
Our solar system is part of a huge group called the Milky Way galaxy. The Sun is one of the many stars in this galaxy. In fact, about one million Earths can fit inside the Sun!
For a long time, people thought Earth was the only planet with water. But NASA found signs of water on Mars too.
Comets are made of dust, ice, and gases. They are leftovers from when our solar system was formed billions of years ago.
The biggest planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, do not have solid surfaces, so we cannot walk on them.
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