SolarSystemDB
Explore the solar system: 116 planets, moons, asteroids, and comets with detailed properties.
Planets (8)
Mercury
The smallest planet and closest to the Sun. Has no atmosphere to retain heat, ca...
57.9 million km from the SunPlanetVenus
Often called Earth twin due to similar size, Venus has a thick toxic atmosphere ...
108.2 million km from the SunPlanetEarth
The only known planet with life. 71% of the surface is covered by water. Has a p...
149.6 million km from the SunPlanetMars
The Red Planet, colored by iron oxide dust. Has the tallest volcano (Olympus Mon...
227.9 million km from the SunPlanetJupiter
The largest planet, a gas giant with no solid surface. Its Great Red Spot is a s...
778.6 million km from the SunPlanetSaturn
Famous for its spectacular ring system made of ice and rock particles. A gas gia...
1,434 million km from the SunPlanetUranus
An ice giant that rotates on its side, likely from an ancient collision. The met...
2,871 million km from the SunPlanetNeptune
The most distant planet, an ice giant with the strongest winds in the solar syst...
4,495 million km from the SunDwarf Planets (10)
Pluto
Reclassified from planet to dwarf planet in 2006 by the IAU. Has a heart-shaped ...
5,906 million km from the SunDwarf PlanetEris
Slightly more massive than Pluto. Its discovery triggered the debate that led to...
10,120 million km from the SunDwarf PlanetCeres
The largest object in the asteroid belt. Was classified as a planet when first d...
414 million km from the SunDwarf PlanetHaumea
Has an elongated shape (like an egg) due to rapid rotation (completes a rotation...
6,452 million km from the SunDwarf PlanetMakemake
Second brightest Kuiper Belt object after Pluto. Has one known moon, nicknamed M...
6,850 million km from the SunDwarf PlanetOrcus
The anti-Pluto, a plutino locked in the same 2:3 resonance with Neptune but orbi...
5,896 million km from the SunDwarf PlanetQuaoar
A classical belt world with a ring announced in 2023 that orbits far beyond the ...
6,493 million km from the SunDwarf PlanetGonggong
One of the reddest large worlds, tinted by radiation-cooked methane compounds. R...
10,136 million km from the SunDwarf PlanetSedna
A deeply remote world whose 11,400-year loop never brings it closer than 76 AU t...
75,700 million km from the SunDwarf PlanetSalacia
A dense outer world with a large moon, Actaea. The pair qualify as a binary sinc...
6,316 million km from the SunMoons (36)
Moon
Earth only natural satellite. Formed from debris after a Mars-sized body hit Ear...
384,400 km from its planetMoonPhobos
Mars larger moon, heavily cratered. Orbiting only 6,000 km above Mars surface an...
9,376 km from its planetMoonDeimos
Mars smaller and outer moon. Looks more like a smooth, lumpy potato than a spher...
23,460 km from its planetMoonIo
The most volcanically active body in the solar system. Over 400 active volcanoes...
421,700 km from its planetMoonEuropa
Has a smooth, icy surface covering a global saltwater ocean. The ocean may conta...
671,100 km from its planetMoonGanymede
The largest moon in the solar system, bigger than Mercury. The only moon with it...
1.1 million km from its planetMoonCallisto
Jupiter second largest moon. The most heavily cratered object in the solar syste...
1.9 million km from its planetMoonTitan
The only moon with a thick atmosphere. Has lakes and seas of liquid methane and ...
1.2 million km from its planetMoonEnceladus
A small moon with dramatic geysers shooting water ice from its south pole. Has a...
238,000 km from its planetMoonTriton
Neptune largest moon. Orbits backwards (retrograde), suggesting it was captured ...
354,800 km from its planetMoonCharon
Pluto largest moon. So large relative to Pluto that the two orbit a point betwee...
19,590 km from its planetMoonMimas
Death Star lookalike with the 139 km Herschel crater spanning a third of its dia...
185,500 km from its planetMoonRhea
The second largest moon of Saturn, an icy body with wispy bright fractures on it...
527,000 km from its planetMoonIapetus
The two-toned moon, dark as coal on one side and bright white on the other. Dust...
3.6 million km from its planetMoonDione
A cratered ice moon with towering bright cliffs called chasmata on its trailing ...
377,400 km from its planetMoonTethys
Almost pure water ice, giving it the lowest density of any large moon. Ithaca Ch...
294,620 km from its planetMoonHyperion
A sponge-looking moon riddled with deep pits, about 40 percent empty space insid...
1.5 million km from its planetMoonPhoebe
The largest irregular moon of Saturn, orbiting backwards like a captured object....
12.9 million km from its planetMoonJanus
Co-orbital partner of Epimetheus, swapping orbits every four years in a gravitat...
151,470 km from its planetMoonEpimetheus
Shares the same orbital lane as Janus, exchanging inner and outer positions ever...
151,420 km from its planetMoonPan
A ravioli-shaped shepherd moon orbiting inside the Encke Gap of the A ring. Its ...
133,580 km from its planetMoonAtlas
A flying saucer lookalike with a smooth equatorial ridge built from ring particl...
137,670 km from its planetMoonPrometheus
The inner shepherd of the F ring, repeatedly carving dark channels and streamers...
139,380 km from its planetMoonPandora
The outer shepherd of the narrow F ring, working with Prometheus to keep it conf...
141,710 km from its planetMoonAriel
The brightest Uranian moon, with the youngest surface of the group. Deep rift va...
190,900 km from its planetMoonUmbriel
The darkest of the five major Uranian moons, reflecting barely 16 percent of lig...
266,000 km from its planetMoonMiranda
A jumbled patchwork world with Verona Rupes, a 20 km tall cliff, the tallest kno...
129,390 km from its planetMoonPuck
The largest inner moon of Uranus found by Voyager 2. Nearly round despite its sm...
86,000 km from its planetMoonSycorax
The largest irregular moon of Uranus, orbiting backwards on a distant path. Ligh...
12.2 million km from its planetMoonNereid
A distant moon with the most eccentric orbit of any known satellite, swinging be...
5.5 million km from its planetMoonProteus
About as large as an object can be while staying lumpy rather than round. Extrem...
117,650 km from its planetMoonLarissa
A cratered inner moon first detected in 1981 when it briefly blocked a star, the...
73,100 km from its planetMoonDespina
A small moon hugging Neptune, found in Voyager 2 images days before closest appr...
52,520 km from its planetMoonGalatea
Shepherd of the Adams ring and its bright arcs. Its gravity confines the dusty a...
61,950 km from its planetMoonHimalia
The largest irregular moon of Jupiter, leader of a group of about 170 members. L...
11.5 million km from its planetMoonAmalthea
One of the reddest moons of Jupiter, tinted by sulfur blasted from Io. The last ...
181,400 km from its planetAsteroids (19)
Vesta
The second largest asteroid and brightest seen from Earth. Has a massive impact ...
353 million km from the SunAsteroidPallas
The third largest asteroid. Has a highly tilted and eccentric orbit. Surface app...
415 million km from the SunAsteroidHygiea
The fourth largest asteroid. Nearly spherical, making it a candidate for dwarf p...
470 million km from the SunAsteroidBennu
A near-Earth asteroid studied by OSIRIS-REx, which returned samples to Earth in ...
169 million km from the SunAsteroidEros
The first near-Earth asteroid discovered. First asteroid orbited and landed on b...
218 million km from the SunAsteroidItokawa
A peanut-shaped near-Earth asteroid. Visited by Japanese Hayabusa mission in 200...
187 million km from the SunAsteroidRyugu
A diamond-shaped near-Earth asteroid. Visited by Japanese Hayabusa2 mission, whi...
224 million km from the SunAsteroidApophis
A near-Earth asteroid that will pass within 31,000 km of Earth on April 13, 2029...
137.5 million km from the SunAsteroidPsyche
A metallic asteroid thought to be the exposed core of a protoplanet. Contains ir...
502 million km from the SunAsteroidJuno
The third asteroid ever found, once ranked as a full planet. A cracked, irregula...
266.8 million km from the SunAsteroidGaspra
The first asteroid photographed up close, by the Galileo probe en route to Jupit...
331 million km from the SunAsteroidIda
The first asteroid known to possess a moon. Galileo spotted 1.4 km Dactyl orbiti...
428 million km from the SunAsteroidMathilde
A carbon-black C-type body spinning just once every 17.4 days. NEAR flew past in...
396 million km from the SunAsteroidLutetia
A dense, battered world visited by the Rosetta comet chaser in 2010. Craters up ...
364.4 million km from the SunAsteroidSylvia
The first triple asteroid ever found. Romulus and Remus, its two moons, were spo...
522 million km from the SunAsteroidKleopatra
A metallic dog-bone asteroid 270 km long, mapped by radar. Its two small moons, ...
417 million km from the SunAsteroidHektor
King of the Trojan camp, the largest asteroid sharing the orbit of Jupiter. A st...
784 million km from the SunAsteroidDavida
One of the most massive asteroids, a dark carbon-rich body about 310 km across. ...
477 million km from the SunAsteroidInteramnia
The fifth most massive asteroid, spanning about 330 km. Seldom observed because ...
458 million km from the SunComets (16)
Halley
The most famous comet, visible from Earth every 75-79 years. Last appeared in 19...
2,680 million km from the SunCometHale-Bopp
One of the brightest comets of the 20th century, visible to the naked eye for 18...
28,600 million km from the SunCometChuryumov-Gerasimenko
Comet 67P, famous for being visited by ESA Rosetta mission (2014-2016). Rosetta ...
518 million km from the SunCometNeowise
A spectacular comet visible to the naked eye in July 2020. Discovered by NASA NE...
4,500 million km from the SunCometShoemaker-Levy 9
The comet that famously crashed into Jupiter in July 1994. Had been captured by ...
CometEncke
Has the shortest orbital period of any known comet at 3.3 years. Second comet id...
510 million km from the SunCometTempel 1
Target of NASA Deep Impact mission in 2005, which launched an impactor into its ...
313 million km from the SunCometSwift-Tuttle
Parent of the August Perseids, the richest annual meteor shower. Its 26 km nucle...
3,900 million km from the SunCometHyakutake
Surprise visitor of 1996, discovered with binoculars six weeks before passing 15...
CometBorrelly
Its bowling-pin nucleus was resolved by Deep Space 1 in 2001, among the earliest...
540 million km from the SunCometWild 2
Stardust flew through its coma in 2004 and returned comet grains to Earth in 200...
515 million km from the SunCometHolmes
Faint until it erupted a millionfold brighter in 42 hours in October 2007, becom...
541 million km from the SunCometIkeya-Seki
The brightest comet of the 20th century, visible in daylight in 1965. A Kreutz s...
CometISON
The comet of the century that was not, crumbling hours after passing 1.9 million...
CometLovejoy
The Christmas comet of 2011, a Kreutz sungrazer that survived flying 140,000 km ...
Comet2I/Borisov
The first known interstellar comet, confirmed as a visitor from another star in ...
Centaurs (6)
Chiron
The first centaur found, in 1977. Behaves as both asteroid and comet, carrying d...
2,040 million km from the SunCentaurChariklo
The only minor planet known to wear rings. Two narrow rings were found during a ...
2,360 million km from the SunCentaurPholus
One of the reddest objects known, coated in organic material built up over billi...
3,030 million km from the SunCentaurNessus
A small centaur on a 122-year loop that reaches from Saturn out toward the Kuipe...
3,660 million km from the SunCentaurAsbolus
A faint centaur whose craters expose fresh bright ice beneath a dark aged crust,...
2,680 million km from the SunCentaurHylonome
A centaur orbiting between Uranus and Neptune whose path slowly evolves under th...
3,810 million km from the SunKuiper Belt Objects (6)
Arrokoth
The farthest world ever explored, buzzed by New Horizons on New Year Day 2019. T...
6,670 million km from the SunKuiper Belt ObjectVaruna
Spinning so fast it has flattened into an egg. One of the largest classical belt...
6,450 million km from the SunKuiper Belt ObjectIxion
A large plutino marching in the 2:3 rhythm with Neptune. Dark and reddish, typic...
5,920 million km from the SunKuiper Belt ObjectHuya
A plutino found by a Venezuelan astronomer. Carries a small moon discovered in 2...
5,920 million km from the SunKuiper Belt ObjectVarda
A bright, dense belt object with a roughly 350 km moon named Ilmare. Water ice d...
6,970 million km from the SunKuiper Belt ObjectAlbion
Discovery number 1992 QB1, the first object confirmed beyond Neptune since Pluto...
6,560 million km from the SunRegions (9)
Asteroid Belt
A ring of shattered leftovers between Mars and Jupiter holding over a million ob...
RegionKuiper Belt
A doughnut of icy worlds beyond Neptune, home to Pluto and its neighbors, with a...
RegionOort Cloud
A hypothesized spherical shell holding perhaps a trillion icy fragments loosely ...
RegionScattered Disc
A sparse halo of eccentric, tilted orbits strewn outward when Neptune migrated e...
RegionHeliosphere
The magnetic bubble inflated by the solar wind that shields the planets from gal...
RegionHeliopause
Where the outward solar wind finally stalls against the gas between the stars, t...
RegionTermination Shock
The first boundary of the heliosphere, where the solar wind abruptly slows below...
RegionJupiter Trojans
Two swarms of asteroids pacing Jupiter 60 degrees ahead and behind, trapped at s...
RegionHilda Group
Asteroids locked in a 3:2 rhythm with Jupiter whose orbits trace a striking tria...
Phenomena (6)
Great Red Spot
A colossal anticyclone wider than Earth, watched continuously since 1831 and pos...
PhenomenonAurora
Curtains of light ignited when magnetic fields funnel charged particles into atm...
PhenomenonSolar Wind
A million-ton-per-second breeze of protons and electrons streaming at 400 to 800...
PhenomenonZodiacal Light
A faint pyramid of light before dawn or after dusk, sunlight scattering off inte...
PhenomenonMeteor Showers
Annual displays as Earth plows through comet dust. The August Perseids deliver a...
PhenomenonPlanetary Rings
Billions of ice and rock chunks circling in thin sheets. The rings of Saturn spa...