Solar System Research Paper

Words: 248
Pages: 1

The solar system consists of a central star the Sun and all of the smaller celestial bodies that travel around it. The small bodies include eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, which are themselves orbited by more than 140 moons. Only Mercury and Venus have no moons. In addition the solar system has millions of rocky asteroids and billions of icy comets. All of these objects are held in a group by the Sun's gravity.
The planets, asteroids and comets in the solar system are loose objects left over from the formation of the Sun. Originally the gas and dust that would become the Sun was the core of a cloud much larger than the solar system, probably several light-years across. One light-year is equal