SOLAR SYSTEM

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does solar system mean? 

• SOLAR SYSTEM (noun)
  The noun SOLAR SYSTEM has 1 sense:

1. the sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field

  Familiarity information: SOLAR SYSTEM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOLAR SYSTEM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("solar system" is a kind of...):

scheme; system (a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole)

Meronyms (parts of "solar system"):

interplanetary medium (interplanetary space including forms of energy and gas and dust)

Meronyms (members of "solar system"):

Venus (the second nearest planet to the sun; it is peculiar in that its rotation is slow and retrograde (in the opposite sense of the Earth and all other planets except Uranus); it is visible from Earth as an early 'morning star' or an 'evening star')

Uranus (a giant planet with a ring of ice particles; the 7th planet from the sun has a blue-green color and many satellites)

Sun (the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system)

Saturn (a giant planet that is surrounded by three planar concentric rings of ice particles; the 6th planet from the sun)

Pluto (a large asteroid that was once thought to be the farthest known planet from the sun; it has an elliptical orbit)

major planet; planet ((astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction)

outer planet ((astronomy) a major planet whose orbit is outside the asteroid belt (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto))

Neptune (a giant planet with a ring of ice particles; the 8th planet from the sun is the most remote of the gas giants)

minor planet; planetoid (any of numerous small celestial bodies that move around the sun)

Mercury (the smallest planet and the nearest to the sun)

Mars; Red Planet (a small reddish planet that is the 4th from the sun and is periodically visible to the naked eye; minerals rich in iron cover its surface and are responsible for its characteristic color)

Edgeworth-Kuiper belt; Kuiper belt (a disk-shaped region of minor planets outside the orbit of Neptune)

Jupiter (the largest planet and the 5th from the sun; has many satellites and is one of the brightest objects in the night sky)

earth; globe; world (the 3rd planet from the sun; the planet we live on)

Holonyms ("solar system" is a part of...):

heliosphere (the region inside the heliopause containing the sun and solar system)

 Context examples 

Its size is rare among exoplanets - planets beyond our solar system.

(Citizen Scientists Find New World with NASA Telescope, NASA)

Nothing like them exists in our solar system.

('Cotton Candy' Planet Mysteries Unravel in New Hubble Observations, NASA)

With so many planets there—Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto, the gang of three that are some of the most powerful planets in the solar system—you certainly are focused on making more money.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Proxima B is believed roughly Earth-sized and in its solar system's habitable zone, meaning it would have similar gravity to Earth and at least the possibility of liquid water.

(Simulations show planet orbiting Proxima Centauri could have liquid water, Wikinews)

The high velocity indicates not only that the object likely originated from outside our solar system, but also that it will leave and head back to interstellar space.

(Newly Discovered Comet Is Likely Interstellar Visitor, NASA)

As such, planetary nebulas allow us a glimpse into the future of our own solar system.

(Hubble Views Final Stages of a Star’s Life, ESA/NASA)

Such events can create debris that can reach the inner solar system.

(Moon Data Sheds Light on Earth’s Asteroid Impact History, NASA)

In our solar system, the amount of carbon relative to hydrogen in the atmospheres of giant planets is significantly higher than that of the sun.

(Water common – yet scarce – in exoplanets, University of Cambridge)

Electrons and positrons are among the speedy particles known as cosmic rays, which originate beyond the solar system.

(NASA’s Fermi Mission Links Nearby Pulsar’s Gamma-ray ‘Halo’ to Antimatter Puzzle, NASA)

Titan is the only planetary body in our solar system other than Earth known to have stable liquid on its surface.

(The First Global Geologic Map of Titan Completed, NASA)