Definition of solar system
: the sun together with the group of celestial bodies that are held by its attraction and revolve around it also : a similar system centered on another star
Examples of solar system in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web The accumulated layers of ice could record billions of years of the solar system’s history, almost like tree rings.
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Kenneth Chang, New York Times, "There’s Water and Ice on the Moon, and in More Places Than NASA Thought," 26 Oct. 2020 The object's composition could shed more light on the origins of the solar system. Cost: $1 billion.
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Anne Ryman, The Arizona Republic, "'An amazing day:' University of Arizona team is optimistic they plucked sample from asteroid," 22 Oct. 2020 The pristine nature of these space rocks, which are remnants from the earliest days of the solar system, could give researchers a better understanding of the origins of life on Earth.
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NBC News, "Watch the exact moment a NASA spacecraft 'tags' an asteroid," 21 Oct. 2020 How much energy really comes out of the solar system’s life-giving nuclear fusion reactor?
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Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, "Elon Musk Says the Sun Can Power All of Civilization. Of Course He's Right.," 16 Oct. 2020 Researchers created a model of the solar system to learn how each planet's orbit affected each other.
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Harry Clarke-ezzidio, CNN, "Venus isn't habitable -- and it could be all Jupiter's fault," 1 Oct. 2020 But in her view, other minutiae of Ceres’s geology discussed in the new papers hold limited relevance for scientists’ broader understanding of the solar system.
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Scott Hershberger, Scientific American, "Claims of ‘Ocean’ inside Ceres May Not Hold Water," 12 Aug. 2020 Even when our planet finds itself in trouble, Earthlings can count on the rest of the solar system to serve up solace.
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Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, "How To Watch April’s Lyrid Meteor Shower From Home," 16 Apr. 2020 The object promptly was added to the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center's tally of asteroids and comets found in our solar system, just 5,000 shy of the 1 million mark.
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CBS News, ""I'm pretty jazzed about this": NASA expert identifies mystery object once thought an asteroid," 11 Oct. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'solar system.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for solar system
The first known use of solar system was circa 1704
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