<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

In common usage, a solar system is synonymous with the scientific term, "star system." But such usage had been controversial in the astrophysics community for years.

Under international astronomy agreements among scientists, all star systems are named after their central star. For example, our star system is named after Sol, the scientific name of our central star, the Sun.

But because of popular usage, particularly in sci fi film and TV, the term "solar system" without capital letters is now widely regarded as an acceptable term for any generic star system in the universe.

Whereas, "Solar system" (Sometimes called the Sol system), with a uppercase capitalization, is considered to be the proper noun version of the specific star system that contains the Earth, seven other planets and several other bodies in orbit around Sol. Some of the bodies in our solar system include Halley's Comet, the moons and Dwarf Planets.

Also see

• Planetary system
• Star system
• Extrasolar planet