Explore Solar System Discoveries
![](/images/icons/systemdiscovery_mercury.jpg)
Mercury's orbit is so close to the Sun that it is difficult to see by ground-based observers. ...
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, mathematical theory suggested that there still might ...
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 the fifth object officially classified ...
Read more
More about Solar System Discoveries
Did you know?
Did you know that our Solar System has a new
dwarf planet? Astronomers have officially categorized
Haumea as a dwarf planet.
Did you know that bodies in the solar system orbit the Sun in elliptical orbits?
Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day
Do you know what this word or phrase means?
AlluviumxAlluvium : Alluvium is loose gravel, sand, silt, or clay deposited by streams.
Click on the word to find out!
Research Highlights
The Gulf of Mexico: what role will the Mississippi River play in oil washing ashore and into delta wetlands? One of the spill's greatest environmental threats is to Louisiana's wetlands, scientists believe....
Read more![](/olpa/images/miss_river_small.jpg)