Solar System
The Solar System, in NationStates, consists of the Sun and the planetary system that orbits it. In relation to other systems, it is called Sol, after the Latin name for the Sun. Many, if not a majority, of NS nations are located in or based on the Solar System -- particularly the Earth -- as opposed to different systems. The NS Solar System more or less mirrors the RW Solar System. Eight or nine of the known objects that directly orbit the Sun are considered planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Pluto's planetary status is in dispute. Objects not of planetary size that orbit the Sun are called minor planets; they can be either asteroids, comets, or the many icy, comet-like objects that orbit beyond Neptune (called Trans-Neptunian objects or TNOs). The asteroid Ceres, Pluto, and a number of similarly sized TNOs are of planetary mass but are still not considered planets by some scientists. They are sometimes classified as "dwarf planets" -- though in NS the term can either mean a small planet, a planet populated by dwarves, or even a planet mainly populated by Little People.
Thousands of NS civilizations exist in the Solar System -- mainly on Earth, the Moon and Mars. Other areas of settlement include Mercury, Venus and Pluto, as well as the largest asteroids and some of the larger moons or TNOs in the outer system.
A lesser-known body in the system is Fido, a "planet" eerily similar to Pluto, and now classified as a "Really Big Meteoroid."
