The Sun contains roughly ninety-nine percent of all the mass in the solar system.

The longer version

Mass dominates the solar system because the Sun formed from the same collapsing cloud as the planets but captured almost everything. Gravity pulled the great bulk of the material toward the center, where it ignited as a star, leaving only scraps to build planets, moons, asteroids and comets. Jupiter holds most of what was left, yet even it is a tiny fraction of the Sun.

Because the Sun carries nearly all the mass, its gravity dictates every orbit in the system. Planets, dwarf planets and debris all fall around it along paths set by that central pull. Changing the Sun's mass would reshape the whole clockwork of orbits.

Where this entry sits

The night sky looks calm, yet almost everything up there is moving, burning, or slowly changing. These facts cover planets, stars, the Moon, gravity, black holes, comets, and the story of how people began exploring beyond Earth. The full list sits on the Space and Sky page, where every entry is listed in order.