System And Beyond | Astronomy: The Solar

These explosions are crucial to the chemical history of the universe. In their dying moments, massive stars forge heavy elements—like iron, gold, and carbon—and scatter them across space. This "stardust" eventually coalesces into new stars and planets. In a very literal sense, every atom in the human body was once forged inside the heart of a star. Into the Deep Cosmos: Galaxies and Cosmology

The Solar System is a complex, gravity-bound system centered on the Sun, a medium-sized star that contains 99.8% of the system's mass. Orbiting it are eight distinct planets, divided into two categories: the inner, rocky terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and the outer gas and ice giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). Astronomy: The Solar System and Beyond

Beyond the planets lies a graveyard of celestial building blocks. The Asteroid Belt, the Kuiper Belt, and the distant Oort Cloud house millions of small bodies that provide a "fossil record" of the early Solar System. Studying these objects, alongside missions to Mars and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn (like Europa and Enceladus), allows scientists to understand the conditions that led to the emergence of life on Earth and the potential for life elsewhere in our own backyard. The Life and Death of Stars These explosions are crucial to the chemical history