hard
Roughly what share of our solar system's total mass is contained in the Sun alone?
- About 50 percent
- About 99.8 percent
- About 75 percent
- About 90 percent
Why B? And why not the others?
Correct answer: B. About 99.8 percent
The Sun accounts for about 99.8 percent of the solar system's entire mass — every planet, moon, asteroid, and comet together makes up the remaining sliver, and Jupiter claims most of that. The Sun's interior could swallow more than 1.3 million Earths. Guesses like half or three-quarters feel reasonable because the planets seem so substantial, especially giant Jupiter, yet even Jupiter carries only about a thousandth of the Sun's mass. Even the cautious-sounding 90 percent wildly overrates the planets: in mass terms, the solar system is essentially the Sun plus rounding error.
Source: NASA Science: Solar System facts (science.nasa.gov/solar-system/solar-system-facts/)