Outer edge of our solar system

Where does the Solar System end?

If you measure by edge of the Sun's magnetic fields, the end is the heliosphere. If you judge by the stopping point of Sun's gravitational influence, the solar system would end at the Oort Cloud. Narrator: Where is the edge of the solar system? The answer is not so simple. You could say it's where the planets end.

What is the edge of the Solar System?

There are, however, specific regions of space that include outlying members of our solar system, and a region beyond-which the Sun can no longer hold any influence. The last part of that definition appears to be a viable definition of the edge of the solar system. Specifically,

What regions are found at the edge of the Solar System?

Here we take a look at the regions found at the edge of our Solar System. A computer model of the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the Solar System. Credit: NASA The Kuiper Belt is a huge ring-shaped region beyond the orbit of Neptune. The main belt spans from 30 to 50 AU, with a more sparse, scattered disc stretching out to 1,000 AU.

What are the boundaries of the Solar System?

There are not one, but three potential boundaries to the solar system, according to NASA: the Kuiper Belt, the ring of rocky bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune; the heliopause, the edge of the sun's magnetic field; and the Oort Cloud, a distant reservoir of comets that are barely visible from Earth.

Is the Kuiper belt the edge of the Solar System?

"If one narrowly defines the solar system as just the sun and its planetary bodies, then the edge of the Kuiper Belt can be considered to be the edge of the solar system," Reisenfeld said. But this definition of the solar system is considered to be far too simple by some astronomers, such as Caltech's Mike Brown.

Is the Oort cloud the edge of the Solar System?

Some consider the far edge Oort Cloud to be the edge of the Solar System, because the majority of the mass of the Solar System is within it, but the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space is actually thought to be within its inner reaches: the heliopause.