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Sunday, May 13, 2007

Solar System

solar system consists of the Sun and the supplementary celestial objects gravitationally bound to it: the eight planets, their 162 known moons,three at present recognized dwarf planets (including Pluto) and their four known moons, and billions of small bodies. This last category includes asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets, meteoroids and interplanetary dust.
In broad terms, the charted regions of the Solar System consist of the Sun, four terrestrial inner planets, an asteroid belt composed of small rocky bodies, four gas giant outer planets, and a second belt, called the Kuiper belt, collected of icy objects. Beyond the Kuiper belt lies the dotted disc, the heliopause, and ultimately the hypothetical Oort cloud.

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