Cosmic Scale
Solar System
The Sun and its planets, out to Neptune · You are here
How big is Solar System?
Solar System is about 9.0 × 10⁹ km across.
See Solar System in 3D, at true scale
The Sun and everything bound to it: eight planets, hundreds of moons, millions of asteroids and comets, all formed 4.6 billion years ago from one collapsing cloud of gas and dust. Drawn here out to Neptune's orbit.
At a glance
| Diameter | 9.0 × 10⁹ km |
|---|---|
| Mass | 1.99 × 10³⁰ kg |
| Diameter compared with Earth | 706,000 × Earth |
| Age | 4.6 billion years |
| Neptune's orbit | 30 AU from the Sun |
| Heliopause | About 120 AU |
| Planets | Eight |
Good to know
- Sunlight takes 8 minutes to reach Earth and just over 4 hours to reach Neptune.
- Voyager 1 crossed into interstellar space in 2012 and is now more than 160 AU away.
- The Sun holds 99.86% of all the mass here; Jupiter accounts for most of the rest.
- Next smaller: Stephenson 2-18 · 3.0 × 10⁹ km
- Next larger: M87* · 3.8 × 10¹⁰ km