The gas, dust, and charged particles from a variety of sources that occupies the space between the planets. Dust left over from the formation of the Solar System, or from disintegrating comets, orbits the Sun in or near the ecliptic plane and is responsible for scattering sunlight to cause the zodiacal light (mainly the smaller particles) and for meteor showers in the Earth's atmosphere (larger particles). The charged particles mostly originate in the solar wind, but some are cosmic rays from deep space.