The solar system consists of the Sun and everything that orbits around it, including 8 planets. The inner terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars - are small and rocky. The outer gas giant planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are much larger. Other objects in the solar system include asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, comets made of ice and dust, and meteorites which are rocky debris from space that reaches Earth. The solar system resides in one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy.