The Nonsuch Park Solar System walk is a scaled-down, walkable representation of our Solar System. It helps you grasp the scale and vast distances that exist between the planets.
Solar System Objects
CLICK on each object below to discover some of the fascinating facts about the planets and the wider Universe beyond.
The Sun is a massive ball of hot plasma, so large that over a million Earths could fit inside it. At its core, nuclear fusion converts hydrogen into helium, releasing the energy that powers life on Earth. Every second it produces more energy than humanity has used in all of history.
Sun compared to the size of the Earth.Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
Mercury is the smallest planet and races around the Sun once every 88 days. With virtually no atmosphere, its surface swings from scorching 430°C in the daytime to minus 180°C at night. Despite being close to the Sun, it isn't the hottest planet!
Mercury compared to the size of the Earth.Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
Venus is Earth's "evil twin", similar in size but wrapped in a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere. This causes a runaway greenhouse effect, making Venus the hottest planet with surface temperatures around 465 °C, hot enough to melt lead. Its clouds are made of sulfuric acid – not a friendly place to visit.
Venus compared to the size of the Earth.Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
Our home planet is the only place in the universe known to support life. About 70% of its surface is covered in liquid water, its protective atmosphere and magnetic core shield us from harmful solar radiation. Earth is perfectly balanced between too hot and too cold – a true "Goldilocks" world.
Click on the image for more detail from NASA.
Mars is home to "Olympus Mons" the largest volcano in the solar system almost 3 times the height of Everest, and the largest known canyon "Valles Marineris", nearly eight times longer and five times deeper than the Grand Canyon. Mars is the most visited planet with over 50 spacecraft launched since 1960, although many failed to arrive. The first successful lander, NASA's Viking 1, arrived in 1976.
Mars compared to the size of the Earth.Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
Between Mars and Jupiter lies a region filled with rocky leftovers from the early solar system. While science fiction usually shows dense fields of tumbling rocks, in reality the asteroids are spread far apart. The largest, Ceres, is nearly 1,000 km wide and is classed as a dwarf planet.
Asteroid Belt.Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
Jupiter is the giant of the solar system, over 1,300 times larger than Earth. Its swirling storms include the Great Red Spot, a hurricane bigger than our planet that has raged for centuries. Jupiter's powerful gravity also shepherds dozens of moons, including volcanic Io and icy Europa.
Jupiter compared to the size of the Earth.Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
Famous for its stunning rings, Saturn is a gas giant mostly made of hydrogen and helium. Though the rings look solid, they are billions of icy particles orbiting in unison. Saturn isn't alone – Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune also have ring systems although they are much less spectacular. Saturn also boasts over 140 moons, including Titan, which is larger than Mercury and has lakes of liquid methane.
Saturn compared to the size of the Earth.Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
Uranus is tipped on its side, spinning like a rolling ball around the Sun. Its pale blue-green colour comes from methane in its atmosphere. It has faint rings and a quirky magnetic field, making it one of the strangest worlds in the solar system.
Uranus compared to the size of the Earth.Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
The windiest planet, Neptune's storms whip across its atmosphere at over 2,000 km/h. Its deep blue colour is due to methane, like Uranus, but it's more vivid and striking. Discovered only in 1846, Neptune is the most distant planet from the Sun.
Neptune compared to the size of the Earth.Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
Once the ninth planet, Pluto is now classed as a dwarf planet. It has mountains of water ice, valleys, and even a giant heart-shaped glacier of frozen nitrogen, revealed by NASA's New Horizons in 2015. Pluto is just one of thousands of icy worlds in the Kuiper Belt – a vast ring of frozen remnants from the solar system's formation that stretches far beyond Neptune. This distant region is also home to other dwarf planets, like Eris, Haumea, and Makemake.
Pluto compared to the size of the Earth.Click on this image to access even more information from NASA.
Beyond the Kuiper Belt lies the Oort Cloud, a distant sphere of icy bodies stretching halfway to the next star. Beyond that are billions of stars in our Milky Way galaxy, many with their own planets. And further still, the universe contains trillions of galaxies – each with billions of suns, worlds, and mysteries. Our solar system is just one tiny speck in a cosmic ocean.
Click on this image to access more detail from NASA.
