The Solar System

A star at the center of it all, holding roughly 99.8% of the system's mass. Its gravity keeps every planet, moon, and comet in orbit, and its fusion powers nearly all life on Earth.

• Mercury: smallest and fastest, scorched and cratered.
• Venus: a runaway greenhouse, hottest surface of all.
• Earth: the only known world with liquid water and life.
• Mars: cold, red, and rich with signs of an ancient wetter past.

• Jupiter: the largest planet, with a centuries-old storm.
• Saturn: famous for its bright, wide ring system.
• Uranus: an ice giant tipped on its side.
• Neptune: windiest world, far out in the cold dark.

Dwarf planets like Pluto, the icy Kuiper Belt, and the distant Oort Cloud mark the edges. Comets and asteroids are leftovers from the system's birth about 4.6 billion years ago.