Explore Solar System Discoveries
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_mercury.jpg)
Mercury's orbit is so close to the Sun that it is difficult to see from the ground. This explains ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_venus.jpg)
Venus is one of the brightest objects in the sky, so it is clearly visible to the naked eye. ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_mars.jpg)
Mars is much like Venus-- it's very bright and therefore easily spotted in the night sky. ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_jupiter.jpg)
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It is also one of the brighter objects ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_saturn.jpg)
Like the inner planets and Jupiter, Saturn is clearly visible in the night sky. The ancient ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_uranus.jpg)
Astronomer William Herschel is credited with the discovery of Uranus in 1781. He was using ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_neptune.jpg)
If you had a quiz question in school that asked what year Neptune was discovered, you'd probably ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_pluto.gif)
After the discovery of Neptune in 1846, mathematics suggested that there still might be a ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_ceres.jpg)
Ceres is the largest asteroid in the main asteroid belt. It was classified as a "dwarf ...
Read more
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_haumea.jpg)
Haumea is a dwarf planet in our Solar System. Haumea is officially the fifth dwarf planet. ...
Read more
More about Solar System Discoveries
Did you know?
Did you know that a
moon has been found to orbit the asteroid Eugenia?
Do you know the difference between meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites?
Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day
Do you know what this word or phrase means?
Plate tectonicsxPlate tectonics : The theory supported by a wide range of evidence that considers the Earth's crust and upper mantle to be composed of several large, thin, relatively rigid plates that move relative to one another.
Click on the word to find out!
Research Highlights
Scientists have learned that microbes that live in the soil, like fungi and bacteria, don't produce more carbon dioxide when the climate is warmer. In fact, at first these microbes will produce more carbon...
Read more![](/olpa/images/soilfungi_small.jpg)