SINCE 1828
solar system
nounDefinition 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
When projects like the James Webb Telescope—with the resolution to probe life outside our solar system—fall years behind schedule and nearly a billion dollars over budget, oversight committees sharpen their knives. — Safi Bahcall, WIRED, "NASA Needs to Out-Crazy Elon Musk," 3 July 2019 Slowly rising from 1992 onward, discoveries of planets outside the solar system first blew up in 2014, and then again in 2016. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "How the Galaxy's Stars Build a 'Netflix for Exoplanets'," 25 June 2019 Earth was not the center of the solar system, but in fact one of many planets orbiting one of many stars. — Amy Thompson, Smithsonian, "LightSail 2 Launches to Space to Soar on the Power of Sunshine," 25 June 2019 Professor Duffy said Planet Nine could test what astronomers know about how planets are formed, particularly in this part of the solar system. — Fox News, "The hunt for mysterious Planet 9," 21 June 2019 The idea of a starshade was first proposed in the halcyon days of the Space Race in the 1960s, when they were considered for studying exoplanets, or planets outside of the solar system. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "NASA Wants to Block Out Distant Stars with the Craziest Flying Formation Ever," 14 June 2019 Versions of propaganda posters in which the likes of Lenin were framed by rays of sunlight, as if the great leader were the center of the solar system. — Washington Post, "In the galleries: Cold War ignites inspiration for Culture House DC artist," 14 June 2019 Like a hit-and-run driver who races from the scene of a crash, the interstellar guest known as ’Oumuamua has bolted out of the solar system, leaving confusion in its wake. — Quanta Magazine, "Interstellar Visitor Found to Be Unlike a Comet or an Asteroid," 10 Oct. 2018 In recent years, a number of small worlds in the outer solar system such as Eris, Sedna, and Makemake have joined Pluto in dwarf planet category. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Here's What We Know About Planet Nine," 9 Mar. 2019These 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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