The amazing diversity of worlds in our solar system
has inspired people for generations. Our immediate
neighborhood in space includes a star powered by nuclear
fusion, large worlds of swirling gases, smaller planets
made of rock and metal, and countless tiny bodies.
In the farther reaches of the solar system, four large
gas planets orbit the Sun: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune. Four smaller terrestrial planets orbit closer
to home: Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury. Also nearby
is the main belt of asteroids. Other tiny, ice-covered
bodies, mostly found in the realms beyond the planets,
orbit in a few distinct groups at the edge of the Sun’s
gravitational influence.