The Solar System is a gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it, including eight major planets, their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. The Sun, a star at the center, contains approximately 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System and provides the gravitational pull necessary for maintaining the orbits of these celestial bodies.
The eight major planets, in order from the Sun, are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Each planet has unique characteristics and can be categorized into terrestrial (rocky) planets like Mercury and Earth, and gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn. The Kuiper Belt, home to dwarf planets such as Pluto, and the Oort Cloud, a hypothetical cloud of icy bodies, mark the boundaries of the Solar System.
The Solar System formed about 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a region within a large molecular cloud. The study of the Solar System encompasses various fields like astronomy, planetary science, and astrophysics, aiming to understand its formation, evolution, and dynamics.