Scene: Asteroid Belt
The Outer Solar System is the realm of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. These massive planets are accompanied by extensive systems of moons and rings.
Asteroid Belt
Remnants of the Early Solar System
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes but much smaller than planets, called asteroids or minor planets.
- Objects: > 1M (est.)
- Total Mass: 4% of Moon
- Location: 2.2-3.2 AU
- Circumstellar Disc: This circumstellar disc contains millions of diverse rocky and metallic bodies—ranging from the dwarf planet Ceres to microscopic dust.
- Rocky Remnants: The asteroid belt is a vast, diffuse region of rocky remnants orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, composed of millions of bodies ranging from dust-sized fragments to dwarf planets like Ceres. Rather than a dense swarm, it is an immense and sparsely populated zone shaped by Jupiter’s powerful gravity, preserving primordial material from the early solar system and offering a window into the processes that governed planetary formation.
Jupiter
King of the Planets
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. It is known for its Great Red Spot and many moons, including the Galilean moons.
- Diameter: 139,820 km
- Day Length: 9.9 hours
- Moons: 95 (known)
- Jupiter: Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, a gas giant primarily composed of hydrogen and helium. Its iconic swirling cloud bands and the Great Red Spot, a massive storm that has raged for centuries, dominate its appearance.
Saturn
The Ringed Jewel
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It is famous for its prominent ring system, which is composed mainly of ice particles.
- Diameter: 116,460 km
- Day Length: 10.7 hours
- Rings: 7 groups
Uranus
The Ice Giant
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is an ice giant, and unlike the other planets, it rotates on its side, likely due to a massive collision in its early history.
- Diameter: 50,724 km
- Day Length: 17.2 hours
- Orbital Period: 84 years
Neptune
The Windy Planet
Neptune is the eighth and farthest-known Solar planet from the Sun. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is known for its strong supersonic winds and deep blue color.
- Diameter: 49,244 km
- Day Length: 16.1 hours
- Winds: 2,100 km/h