Solar System
OverviewDefinitionFormation and evolutionGeneral characteristicsSunInner Solar SystemOuter Solar SystemTrans-Neptunian region
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the objects that orbit it. The name comes from Sōl, the Latin name for the Sun. It formed about 4.6 billion years ago when a dense region of a molecular cloud collapsed, creating the Sun and a protoplanetary disc from which the orbiting bodies assembled. The fusion of hydrogen into helium inside the Sun''s core releases energy, which is primarily e