Key facts
- Scale fact
- 9 billion kmorbital diameter
- Estimated age
- ~4.6 billion years
Solar System
9 billion kmorbital diameter
Visual creditscaleofspace.org / CC BY-NC 4.0
Details
The Solar System’s main planetary span extends from the Sun out to Neptune’s orbit, not to its far larger comet reservoirs. Beyond the planets it continues through the Kuiper Belt and, much farther out, the Oort Cloud.
The nine-billion-kilometer span shown here is the diameter of Neptune’s orbit, not the full reach of the Solar System. The eight planets occupy a relatively compact region around the Sun; the Kuiper Belt, scattered objects and distant comet reservoirs continue far beyond them.
There is no single universally useful outer edge. The heliopause marks where the solar wind yields to the interstellar medium, while the Sun’s gravity holds objects at much greater distances, probably including the inferred Oort Cloud.
Links
- Universe journey
- Solar System
- Wikipedia
- Solar System on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Solar System on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, Solar System falls between Stephenson 2-18 and Kuiper Belt. The band uses nearby Planetary systems records.
Shared physical scale
2.42ly
Sources
References for Solar System
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- Solar System — Wikipedia
- Visual: scaleofspace.org / CC BY-NC 4.0
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About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.