The universe is composed mostly of empty space. But this space is occasionally populated by an amazing assortment of incredible objects. These objects create an orderly, harmonious system known as the cosmos. Close to home, our Solar System consists of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets that circle a central star in an orbital dance that has been going on for billions of years. As we move farther away into deep space, we encounter exotic objects with bizarre properties. Pulsars and Quasars shine with the energy of millions of stars. Neutron stars and black holes distort the very reality of space time itself. And somewhere out there, a mysterious substance known as dark matter composes as much as 90% of the known universe. Welcome to the Cosmos.

“I look up at the night sky, and I know that, yes, we are part of this Universe, we are in this Universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact, I look up—many people feel small, because they’re small and the Universe is big, but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars.”

— Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astronomer