**Abstract**

Solar System planets have been studied for centuries, but the observation of exoplanets is only a few decades old. Consequently, knowledge of exoplanets is considerably more limited than Solar System planets. This chapter reviews the essential characteristics of Solar System planets and associated data derived from a variety of observational approaches. Exoplanet characteristics and their comparison to Solar System planets are provided as well as general detection methods and planned probes to gather additional data.

**Keywords:** Solar System planets, Exoplanets, Dwarf Planets, Moons, Asteroid Belt, and Kuiper Belt
