solar system

noun

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

Kepler even likely discovered a moon outside our solar system. — Brian Resnick, Vox, "NASA retired Kepler, a telescope that discovered thousands of worlds beyond our solar system," 1 Nov. 2018 Since its launch in 2009, the Kepler spacecraft has found thousands of planets outside our solar system. — John Wenz, Popular Mechanics, "The Planet-Hunting Kepler Space Telescope May Be Gone for Good," 25 Oct. 2018 Consider visiting an exoplanet, one of the thousands of planets outside our solar system discovered in recent decades through NASA telescope missions. — Emily Matchar, Smithsonian, "NASA’s New Exoplanet Travel Bureau Lets You “Tour” Far-Distant Planets In 360 Degrees," 7 June 2018 An asteroid in Jupiter’s orbit may be the first one known to have come from outside our solar system. — Sarah Gray, Fortune, "Asteroid Near Jupiter With Backwards Orbit May Be From Outside Our Solar System," 21 May 2018 Versions of it have been used to place hundreds of satellites into orbit and propel spacecraft including Voyager 1, currently outside the solar system. — Richard Tribou, OrlandoSentinel.com, "ULA chooses Aerojet Rocketdyne over Blue Origin to power new Vulcan rocket," 11 May 2018 Astronomers have confirmed more than 800 planets beyond our own solar system, and the discoveries keep rolling in. — Mike Wall, Space.com, "NASA's Kepler Planet-Hunting Space Telescope Wakes Up Again," 13 Oct. 2018 Astronomers use the orbiting observatory to peer deep into the cosmos, revealing faraway solar systems as well as galaxies and black holes. — Marcia Dunn, The Seattle Times, "Hubble Space Telescope sidelined by serious pointing failure," 8 Oct. 2018 Their goal: to retrieve samples that may contain organic materials dating back to the solar system’s birth. — Jeremy Hsu, Scientific American, "Japan’s Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Nears Its Target, the Asteroid Ryugu," 26 June 2018

These 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.