\(\def\|{&}\DeclareMathOperator{\D}{\bigtriangleup\!} \DeclareMathOperator{\d}{\text{d}\!}\)
┌── | Star | |||||
Type | : | Star Cluster | ─── | Star System | ──┼── | Planetary System |
: | ├── | Dwarf Planet | ||||
: | ├── | Asteroid | ||||
: | ├── | Comet | ||||
: | └── | Interplanetary Medium | ||||
Singular Star System | ||||||
Multiple Star System | ||||||
Double Star | ||||||
Size | : | 5 kpc | ─── | 50,000 AU | ───── | 0.1 AU |
Earth | : | (none) | ─── | the Solar System | ───── | the Earth System |
A star system or stellar system is a group of one or more stars and accompanying planets and other small stuff that are bound together by gravity and so orbit around one another.
Many stellar systems feature more than one star: Those are are binary stars or multiple stars. Such stellar systems can probably only hold on to planets if the planets are in orbits that are either much closer to one star than to the others, or much further from any star than the stars are from one another.
//aa.quae.nl/en/boom/sterrenstelsel.html;
Last updated: 2021-07-19