... Neptune, the Solar System's outermost gas giant planet, is 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth. ... Mars: Just The Fiction . ... Like a distant mirror of Earth dwellers' hopes and fears for the future, Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, has inspired profound works of fiction as well. ... Saturn's Rings Seen Sideways . ... Newborn stars lie at the heart of the Orion Nebula, hidden from view by the dust and gas of the giant Orion Molecular Cloud number 1 (OMC-1). ... Shells in the Egg Nebula ....