Solar System Quote

How many planets can one star have?

Estimates are that at least 70 per cent of all stars are accompanied by planets, and since the latter can occur in systems rather than as individuals (think of our own solar system), the number of planets in the Milky Way galaxy is of order one trillion.

What is a planet in the Solar System?

Definition by International Astronomical Union (IAU) in: Resolution B5 Definition of a Planet in the Solar System, International Astronomical Union (iau.org). The Solar System consists of eight "planets" Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A new distinct class of objects called "dwarf planets" exist.

Does the Solar System have an anxiety about its reputation?

The solar system has no anxiety about its reputation. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1872). “The Prose Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Representative men. English traits. Conduct of life”, p.423 Man must at all costs overcome the Earth''s gravity and have, in reserve, the space at least of the Solar System. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (2004).

How old is the Solar System?

I, 372-373. The solar system has no anxiety about its reputation. The solar system was formed 4.6 billion years ago, and the oldest fossils on Earth have been dated at about 3.8 billion years. Sometime between these two points, the chemicals of the young planet were organized into the responsive, reproducing systems we call “life.”