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The Question
(Submitted March 17, 1998)
How large is the Solar System?
The Answer
The size of the solar system is about 40 AU (40 times the distance
between the earth and the sun), which is the orbit of Pluto. One
AU equals 1.5 x 10^11 meters (150,000,000,000). But the gas from
the sun (the solar wind) goes out about five times that distance,
and there are comets that are part of the solar system that extend
even further.
Eric Christian
for Ask a High-Energy Astronomer
Questions on this topic are no longer responded to by the "Ask a
High-Energy Astronomer" service. See http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/ask_an_astronomer.html
for help on other astronomy Q&A services.
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