What are the hidden facts about the solar system?
- The solar system is not actually a “system” in the traditional sense. The planets and other objects are not bound together by any sort of force, they are simply orbiting the Sun due to gravity.
2. The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter is not as dense as many people believe. In fact, the majority of the space in the belt is empty.
3. The Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system beyond Neptune, is home to many small, icy bodies, including Pluto. It is also thought to be the source of many comets.
4. The Oort Cloud is a hypothetical cloud of comets that surrounds the solar system, thought to be the origin of long-period comets.
5. The Sun is not actually at the center of the solar system, but rather it and all the planets are moving in an orbit around the center of mass, called the barycenter, of the solar system.
6. The solar system is not alone; it is part of the Milky Way galaxy and is currently located in the Orion Arm, about 25,000 light-years from the galactic center.
7. The solar system is not static, it’s moving through space. The sun and the solar system are moving in the direction of the constellation Hercules at a speed of about 514,000 km/h (320,000 mph).
8. The solar system is not only made up of planets, but also of small objects like comets, asteroids, and meteoroids.
9. The solar system is not only influenced by the gravity of the sun, but also by the gravity of nearby stars, which can affect the orbits of comets and other small bodies.
10. Not all the planets in our solar system orbit the sun in the same plane, Mercury and Venus have an inclination of less than 7 degrees, while Pluto has an inclination of 17 degrees.