solar system
solar system — noun
1. the Sun and everything held by its gravity, including the eight planets, their m
the Sun and everything held by its gravity, including the eight planets, their moons, and many comets and pieces of rock
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, far bigger than Earth.
used with 'the': the solar system
Daniel built a model of the solar system for his school science fair.
collocation: build/make a model of the solar system
The spacecraft Voyager 1 has finally traveled beyond the edge of the solar system.
Naoko pointed her telescope at Saturn, the second-largest planet in the solar system.
Our solar system formed from a huge cloud of gas and dust.
文法句型
the solar system
用法筆記
Almost always used with 'the', and often written with capital letters (the Solar System) when it means our own Sun's system. Distinguish from sense 2, which is the general term for any star's system.
常見錯誤
2. a star together with the planets and other objects that travel around it through
a star together with the planets and other objects that travel around it through space
Astronomers recently found a solar system with seven planets circling a distant star.
a solar system: countable, with the indefinite article
Hari wondered whether other solar systems might hold planets like our own Earth.
plural form: solar systems
Each solar system in the galaxy forms around its own central star.
Sofia's research focuses on how young solar systems take shape around new stars.
- planetary system
the neutral scientific term for planets orbiting any single star
- star system
broader; can cover one or more stars plus whatever orbits them
文法句型
a solar system
solar systems
用法筆記
Countable in this sense (a solar system, two solar systems), unlike sense 1, which is treated as a single, unique thing. The fixed term stays 'solar system' even for stars other than our own Sun.