document_title: Solar System

question_text: earth is what number planet from the sun

text: Solar System

text: Discovery and exploration

text: For most of history, humanity did not recognize or understand the concept of the Solar System. Most people up to the Late Middle Ages–Renaissance believed Earth to be stationary at the centre of the universe and categorically different from the divine or ethereal objects that moved through the sky. Although the Greek philosopher Aristarchus of Samos had speculated on a heliocentric reordering of the cosmos, Nicolaus Copernicus was the first to develop a mathematically predictive heliocentric system.[11][12] In the 17th century, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton developed an understanding of physics that led to the gradual acceptance of the idea that Earth moves around the Sun and that the planets are governed by the same physical laws that governed Earth. The invention of the telescope led to the discovery of further planets and moons. Improvements in the telescope and the use of unmanned spacecraft have enabled the investigation of geological phenomena, such as mountains, craters, seasonal meteorological phenomena, such as clouds, dust storms and ice caps on the other planets.

text: Structure and composition

text: The principal component of the Solar System is the Sun, a G2 main-sequence star that contains 99.86% of the system's known mass and dominates it gravitationally.[13] The Sun's four largest orbiting bodies, the giant planets, account for 99% of the remaining mass, with Jupiter and Saturn together comprising more than 90%. The remaining objects of the Solar System (including the four terrestrial planets, the dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, and comets) together comprise less than 0.002% of the Solar System's total mass.[g]

text: Most large objects in orbit around the Sun lie near the plane of Earth's orbit, known as the ecliptic. The planets are very close to the ecliptic, whereas comets and Kuiper belt objects are frequently at significantly greater angles to it.[17][18] All the planets, and most other objects, orbit the Sun in the same direction that the Sun is rotating (counter-clockwise, as viewed from above Earth's north pole).[19] There are exceptions, such as Halley's Comet.

text: The overall structure of the charted regions of the Solar System consists of the Sun, four relatively small inner planets surrounded by a belt of mostly rocky asteroids, and four giant planets surrounded by the Kuiper belt of mostly icy objects. Astronomers sometimes informally divide this structure into separate regions. The inner Solar System includes the four terrestrial planets and the asteroid belt. The outer Solar System is beyond the asteroids, including the four giant planets.[20] Since the discovery of the Kuiper belt, the outermost parts of the Solar System are considered a distinct region consisting of the objects beyond Neptune.[21]

text: Most of the planets in the Solar System have secondary systems of their own, being orbited by planetary objects called natural satellites, or moons (two of which, Titan and Ganymede, are larger than the planet Mercury), and, in the case of the four giant planets, by planetary rings, thin bands of tiny particles that orbit them in unison. Most of the largest natural satellites are in synchronous rotation, with one face permanently turned toward their parent.

text: Kepler's laws of planetary motion describe the orbits of objects about the Sun. Following Kepler's laws, each object travels along an ellipse with the Sun at one focus. Objects closer to the Sun (with smaller semi-major axes) travel more quickly because they are more affected by the Sun's gravity. On an elliptical orbit, a body's distance from the Sun varies over the course of its year. A body's closest approach to the Sun is called its perihelion, whereas its most distant point from the Sun is called its aphelion. The orbits of the planets are nearly circular, but many comets, asteroids, and Kuiper belt objects follow highly elliptical orbits. The positions of the bodies in the Solar System can be predicted using numerical models.

text: Although the Sun dominates the system by mass, it accounts for only about 2% of the angular momentum.[22][23] The planets, dominated by Jupiter, account for most of the rest of the angular momentum due to the combination of their mass, orbit, and distance from the Sun, with a possibly significant contribution from comets.[22]

text: The Sun, which comprises nearly all the matter in the Solar System, is composed of roughly 98% hydrogen and helium.[24] Jupiter and Saturn, which comprise nearly all the remaining matter, are also primarily composed of hydrogen and helium.[25][26] A composition gradient exists in the Solar System, created by heat and light pressure from the Sun; those objects closer to the Sun, which are more affected by heat and light pressure, are composed of elements with high melting points. Objects farther from the Sun are composed largely of materials with lower melting points.[27] The boundary in the Solar System beyond which those volatile substances could condense is known as the frost line, and it lies at roughly 5 AU from the Sun.[5]

text: The objects of the inner Solar System are composed mostly of rock,[28] the collective name for compounds with high melting points, such as silicates, iron or nickel, that remained solid under almost all conditions in the protoplanetary nebula.[29] Jupiter and Saturn are composed mainly of gases, the astronomical term for materials with extremely low melting points and high vapour pressure, such as hydrogen, helium, and neon, which were always in the gaseous phase in the nebula.[29] Ices, like water, methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide,[28] have melting points up to a few hundred kelvins.[29] They can be found as ices, liquids, or gases in various places in the Solar System, whereas in the nebula they were either in the solid or gaseous phase.[29] Icy substances comprise the majority of the satellites of the giant planets, as well as most of Uranus and Neptune (the so-called "ice giants") and the numerous small objects that lie beyond Neptune's orbit.[28][30] Together, gases and ices are referred to as volatiles.[31]

text: Distances and scales

text: The distance from Earth to the Sun is 1 astronomical unit (150,000,000 km), or AU. For comparison, the radius of the Sun is 0.0047 AU (700,000 km). Thus, the Sun occupies 0.00001% (10−5 %) of the volume of a sphere with a radius the size of Earth's orbit, whereas Earth's volume is roughly one millionth (10−6) that of the Sun. Jupiter, the largest planet, is 5.2 astronomical units (780,000,000 km) from the Sun and has a radius of 71,000 km (0.00047 AU), whereas the most distant planet, Neptune, is 30 AU (4.5×109 km) from the Sun.

text: With a few exceptions, the farther a planet or belt is from the Sun, the larger the distance between its orbit and the orbit of the next nearer object to the Sun. For example, Venus is approximately 0.33 AU farther out from the Sun than Mercury, whereas Saturn is 4.3 AU out from Jupiter, and Neptune lies 10.5 AU out from Uranus. Attempts have been made to determine a relationship between these orbital distances (for example, the Titius–Bode law),[32] but no such theory has been accepted. The images at the beginning of this section show the orbits of the various constituents of the Solar System on different scales.

text: Some Solar System models attempt to convey the relative scales involved in the Solar System on human terms. Some are small in scale (and may be mechanical—called orreries)—whereas others extend across cities or regional areas.[33] The largest such scale model, the Sweden Solar System, uses the 110-metre (361-ft) Ericsson Globe in Stockholm as its substitute Sun, and, following the scale, Jupiter is a 7.5-metre (25-foot) sphere at Arlanda International Airport, 40 km (25 mi) away, whereas the farthest current object, Sedna, is a 10-cm (4-in) sphere in Luleå, 912 km (567 mi) away.[34][35]

text: If the Sun–Neptune distance is scaled to 100 metres, then the Sun would be about 3 cm in diameter (roughly two-thirds the diameter of a golf ball), the giant planets would be all smaller than about 3 mm, and Earth's diameter along with that of the other terrestrial planets would be smaller than a flea (0.3 mm) at this scale.[36]

text: Distances of selected bodies of the Solar System from the Sun. The left and right edges of each bar correspond to the perihelion and aphelion of the body, respectively, hence long bars denote high orbital eccentricity. The radius of the Sun is 0.7 million km, and the radius of Jupiter (the largest planet) is 0.07 million km, both too small to resolve on this image.

text: Formation and evolution

text: The Solar System formed 4.568 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a region within a large molecular cloud.[h] This initial cloud was likely several light-years across and probably birthed several stars.[37] As is typical of molecular clouds, this one consisted mostly of hydrogen, with some helium, and small amounts of heavier elements fused by previous generations of stars. As the region that would become the Solar System, known as the pre-solar nebula,[38] collapsed, conservation of angular momentum caused it to rotate faster. The centre, where most of the mass collected, became increasingly hotter than the surrounding disc.[37] As the contracting nebula rotated faster, it began to flatten into a protoplanetary disc with a diameter of roughly 200 AU[37] and a hot, dense protostar at the centre.[39][40] The planets formed by accretion from this disc,[41] in which dust and gas gravitationally attracted each other, coalescing to form ever larger bodies. Hundreds of protoplanets may have existed in the early Solar System, but they either merged or were destroyed, leaving the planets, dwarf planets, and leftover minor bodies.

text: Due to their higher boiling points, only metals and silicates could exist in solid form in the warm inner Solar System close to the Sun, and these would eventually form the rocky planets of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Because metallic elements only comprised a very small fraction of the solar nebula, the terrestrial planets could not grow very large. The giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) formed further out, beyond the frost line, the point between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where material is cool enough for volatile icy compounds to remain solid. The ices that formed these planets were more plentiful than the metals and silicates that formed the terrestrial inner planets, allowing them to grow massive enough to capture large atmospheres of hydrogen and helium, the lightest and most abundant elements. Leftover debris that never became planets congregated in regions such as the asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, and Oort cloud. The Nice model is an explanation for the creation of these regions and how the outer planets could have formed in different positions and migrated to their current orbits through various gravitational interactions.

text: Within 50 million years, the pressure and density of hydrogen in the centre of the protostar became great enough for it to begin thermonuclear fusion.[42] The temperature, reaction rate, pressure, and density increased until hydrostatic equilibrium was achieved: the thermal pressure equalled the force of gravity. At this point, the Sun became a main-sequence star.[43] The main-sequence phase, from beginning to end, will last about 10 billion years for the Sun compared to around two billion years for all other phases of the Sun's pre-remnant life combined.[44] Solar wind from the Sun created the heliosphere and swept away the remaining gas and dust from the protoplanetary disc into interstellar space, ending the planetary formation process. The Sun is growing brighter; early in its main-sequence life its brightness was 70% that of what it is today.[45]

text: The Solar System will remain roughly as we know it today until the hydrogen in the core of the Sun has been entirely converted to helium, which will occur roughly 5 billion years from now. This will mark the end of the Sun's main-sequence life. At this time, the core of the Sun will collapse, and the energy output will be much greater than at present. The outer layers of the Sun will expand to roughly 260 times its current diameter, and the Sun will become a red giant. Because of its vastly increased surface area, the surface of the Sun will be considerably cooler (2,600 K at its coolest) than it is on the main sequence.[44] The expanding Sun is expected to vaporize Mercury and render Earth uninhabitable. Eventually, the core will be hot enough for helium fusion; the Sun will burn helium for a fraction of the time it burned hydrogen in the core. The Sun is not massive enough to commence the fusion of heavier elements, and nuclear reactions in the core will dwindle. Its outer layers will move away into space, leaving a white dwarf, an extraordinarily dense object, half the original mass of the Sun but only the size of Earth.[46] The ejected outer layers will form what is known as a planetary nebula, returning some of the material that formed the Sun—but now enriched with heavier elements like carbon—to the interstellar medium.

text: Sun

text: The Sun is the Solar System's star and by far its most massive component. Its large mass (332,900 Earth masses)[47] produces temperatures and densities in its core high enough to sustain nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium, making it a main-sequence star.[48] This releases an enormous amount of energy, mostly radiated into space as electromagnetic radiation peaking in visible light.[49]

text: The Sun is a G2-type main-sequence star. Hotter main-sequence stars are more luminous. The Sun's temperature is intermediate between that of the hottest stars and that of the coolest stars. Stars brighter and hotter than the Sun are rare, whereas substantially dimmer and cooler stars, known as red dwarfs, make up 85% of the stars in the Milky Way.[50][51]

text: The Sun is a population I star; it has a higher abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium ("metals" in astronomical parlance) than the older population II stars.[52] Elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were formed in the cores of ancient and exploding stars, so the first generation of stars had to die before the Universe could be enriched with these atoms. The oldest stars contain few metals, whereas stars born later have more. This high metallicity is thought to have been crucial to the Sun's development of a planetary system because the planets form from the accretion of "metals".[53]

text: Interplanetary medium

text: The vast majority of the Solar System consists of a near-vacuum known as the interplanetary medium. Along with light, the Sun radiates a continuous stream of charged particles (a plasma) known as the solar wind. This stream of particles spreads outwards at roughly 1.5 million kilometres per hour,[54] creating a tenuous atmosphere that permeates the interplanetary medium out to at least 100 AU (see § Heliosphere).[55] Activity on the Sun's surface, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, disturb the heliosphere, creating space weather and causing geomagnetic storms.[56] The largest structure within the heliosphere is the heliospheric current sheet, a spiral form created by the actions of the Sun's rotating magnetic field on the interplanetary medium.[57][58]

text: Earth's magnetic field stops its atmosphere from being stripped away by the solar wind.[59] Venus and Mars do not have magnetic fields, and as a result the solar wind is causing their atmospheres to gradually bleed away into space.[60] Coronal mass ejections and similar events blow a magnetic field and huge quantities of material from the surface of the Sun. The interaction of this magnetic field and material with Earth's magnetic field funnels charged particles into Earth's upper atmosphere, where its interactions create aurorae seen near the magnetic poles.

text: The heliosphere and planetary magnetic fields (for those planets that have them) partially shield the Solar System from high-energy interstellar particles called cosmic rays. The density of cosmic rays in the interstellar medium and the strength of the Sun's magnetic field change on very long timescales, so the level of cosmic-ray penetration in the Solar System varies, though by how much is unknown.[61]

text: The interplanetary medium is home to at least two disc-like regions of cosmic dust. The first, the zodiacal dust cloud, lies in the inner Solar System and causes the zodiacal light. It was likely formed by collisions within the asteroid belt brought on by gravitational interactions with the planets.[62] The second dust cloud extends from about 10 AU to about 40 AU, and was probably created by similar collisions within the Kuiper belt.[63][64]

text: Inner Solar System

text: The inner Solar System is the region comprising the terrestrial planets and the asteroid belt.[65] Composed mainly of silicates and metals, the objects of the inner Solar System are relatively close to the Sun; the radius of this entire region is less than the distance between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. This region is also within the frost line, which is a little less than 5 AU (about 700 million km) from the Sun.[66]

text: Inner planets

text: The four terrestrial or inner planets have dense, rocky compositions, few or no moons, and no ring systems. They are composed largely of refractory minerals, such as the silicates, which form their crusts and mantles, and metals, such as iron and nickel, which form their cores. Three of the four inner planets (Venus, Earth and Mars) have atmospheres substantial enough to generate weather; all have impact craters and tectonic surface features, such as rift valleys and volcanoes. The term inner planet should not be confused with inferior planet, which designates those planets that are closer to the Sun than Earth is (i.e. Mercury and Venus).

text: Mercury

text: Venus

text: Earth

text: Mars

text: Asteroid belt

text:
Sun
  Jupiter trojans
  Planetary orbit
  Asteroid belt
  Hilda asteroids
  NEOs (selection)

text: Asteroids except for the largest, Ceres, are classified as small Solar System bodies[e] and are composed mainly of refractory rocky and metallic minerals, with some ice.[79][80] They range from a few metres to hundreds of kilometres in size. Asteroids smaller than one meter are usually called meteoroids and micrometeoroids (grain-sized), depending on different, somewhat arbitrary definitions.

text: The asteroid belt occupies the orbit between Mars and Jupiter, between 2.3 and 3.3 AU from the Sun. It is thought to be remnants from the Solar System's formation that failed to coalesce because of the gravitational interference of Jupiter.[81] The asteroid belt contains tens of thousands, possibly millions, of objects over one kilometre in diameter.[82] Despite this, the total mass of the asteroid belt is unlikely to be more than a thousandth of that of Earth.[16] The asteroid belt is very sparsely populated; spacecraft routinely pass through without incident.

text: Ceres

text: Asteroid groups

text: Outer Solar System

text: The outer region of the Solar System is home to the giant planets and their large moons. The centaurs and many short-period comets also orbit in this region. Due to their greater distance from the Sun, the solid objects in the outer Solar System contain a higher proportion of volatiles, such as water, ammonia, and methane than those of the inner Solar System because the lower temperatures allow these compounds to remain solid.

text: Outer planets

text: The four outer planets, or giant planets (sometimes called Jovian planets), collectively make up 99% of the mass known to orbit the Sun.[g] Jupiter and Saturn are together over 400 times the mass of Earth and consist overwhelmingly of hydrogen and helium; Uranus and Neptune are far less massive (<20 Earth masses each) and are composed primarily of ices. For these reasons, some astronomers suggest they belong in their own category, "ice giants".[87] All four giant planets have rings, although only Saturn's ring system is easily observed from Earth. The term superior planet designates planets outside Earth's orbit and thus includes both the outer planets and Mars.

text: Jupiter

text: Saturn

text: Uranus

text: Neptune

text: Centaurs

text: The centaurs are icy comet-like bodies whose orbits have semi-major axes greater than Jupiter's (5.5 AU) and less than Neptune's (30 AU). The largest known centaur, 10199 Chariklo, has a diameter of about 250 km.[94] The first centaur discovered, 2060 Chiron, has also been classified as comet (95P) because it develops a coma just as comets do when they approach the Sun.[95]

text: Comets

text: Comets are small Solar System bodies,[e] typically only a few kilometres across, composed largely of volatile ices. They have highly eccentric orbits, generally a perihelion within the orbits of the inner planets and an aphelion far beyond Pluto. When a comet enters the inner Solar System, its proximity to the Sun causes its icy surface to sublimate and ionise, creating a coma: a long tail of gas and dust often visible to the naked eye.

text: Short-period comets have orbits lasting less than two hundred years. Long-period comets have orbits lasting thousands of years. Short-period comets are thought to originate in the Kuiper belt, whereas long-period comets, such as Hale–Bopp, are thought to originate in the Oort cloud. Many comet groups, such as the Kreutz Sungrazers, formed from the breakup of a single parent.[96] Some comets with hyperbolic orbits may originate outside the Solar System, but determining their precise orbits is difficult.[97] Old comets that have had most of their volatiles driven out by solar warming are often categorised as asteroids.[98]

text: Trans-Neptunian region

text: Beyond the orbit of Neptune lies the area of the "trans-Neptunian region", with the doughnut-shaped Kuiper belt, home of Pluto and several other dwarf planets, and an overlapping disc of scattered objects, which is tilted toward the plane of the Solar System and reaches much further out than the Kuiper belt. The entire region is still largely unexplored. It appears to consist overwhelmingly of many thousands of small worlds—the largest having a diameter only a fifth that of Earth and a mass far smaller than that of the Moon—composed mainly of rock and ice. This region is sometimes described as the "third zone of the Solar System", enclosing the inner and the outer Solar System.[99]

text: Kuiper belt

text:
Sun
  Jupiter trojans
  Giant planets
  Kuiper belt
  Scattered disc
  Neptune trojans

text: The Kuiper belt is a great ring of debris similar to the asteroid belt, but consisting mainly of objects composed primarily of ice.[100] It extends between 30 and 50 AU from the Sun. Though it is estimated to contain anything from dozens to thousands of dwarf planets, it is composed mainly of small Solar System bodies. Many of the larger Kuiper belt objects, such as Quaoar, Varuna, and Orcus, may prove to be dwarf planets with further data. There are estimated to be over 100,000 Kuiper belt objects with a diameter greater than 50 km, but the total mass of the Kuiper belt is thought to be only a tenth or even a hundredth the mass of Earth.[15] Many Kuiper belt objects have multiple satellites,[101] and most have orbits that take them outside the plane of the ecliptic.[102]

text: The Kuiper belt can be roughly divided into the "classical" belt and the resonances.[100] Resonances are orbits linked to that of Neptune (e.g. twice for every three Neptune orbits, or once for every two). The first resonance begins within the orbit of Neptune itself. The classical belt consists of objects having no resonance with Neptune, and extends from roughly 39.4 AU to 47.7 AU.[103] Members of the classical Kuiper belt are classified as cubewanos, after the first of their kind to be discovered, (15760) 1992 QB1, and are still in near primordial, low-eccentricity orbits.[104]

text: Pluto and Charon

text: Makemake and Haumea

text: Scattered disc

text: The scattered disc, which overlaps the Kuiper belt but extends much further outwards, is thought to be the source of short-period comets. Scattered-disc objects are thought to have been ejected into erratic orbits by the gravitational influence of Neptune's early outward migration. Most scattered disc objects (SDOs) have perihelia within the Kuiper belt but aphelia far beyond it (some more than 150 AU from the Sun). SDOs' orbits are also highly inclined to the ecliptic plane and are often almost perpendicular to it. Some astronomers consider the scattered disc to be merely another region of the Kuiper belt and describe scattered disc objects as "scattered Kuiper belt objects".[109] Some astronomers also classify centaurs as inward-scattered Kuiper belt objects along with the outward-scattered residents of the scattered disc.[110]

text: Eris

text: Farthest regions

text: The point at which the Solar System ends and interstellar space begins is not precisely defined because its outer boundaries are shaped by two separate forces: the solar wind and the Sun's gravity. The limit of the solar wind's influence is roughly four times Pluto's distance from the Sun; this heliopause, the outer boundary of the heliosphere, is considered the beginning of the interstellar medium.[55] The Sun's Hill sphere, the effective range of its gravitational dominance, is thought to extend up to a thousand times farther and encompasses the theorized Oort cloud.[112]

text: Heliosphere

text: The heliosphere is a stellar-wind bubble, a region of space dominated by the Sun, which radiates at roughly 400 km/s its solar wind, a stream of charged particles, until it collides with the wind of the interstellar medium.

text: The collision occurs at the termination shock, which is roughly 80–100 AU from the Sun upwind of the interstellar medium and roughly 200 AU from the Sun downwind.[113] Here the wind slows dramatically, condenses and becomes more turbulent,[113] forming a great oval structure known as the heliosheath. This structure is thought to look and behave very much like a comet's tail, extending outward for a further 40 AU on the upwind side but tailing many times that distance downwind; evidence from Cassini and Interstellar Boundary Explorer spacecraft has suggested that it is forced into a bubble shape by the constraining action of the interstellar magnetic field.[114]

text: The outer boundary of the heliosphere, the heliopause, is the point at which the solar wind finally terminates and is the beginning of interstellar space.[55] Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are reported to have passed the termination shock and entered the heliosheath, at 94 and 84 AU from the Sun, respectively.[115][116] Voyager 1 is reported to have crossed the heliopause in August 2012.[117]

text: The shape and form of the outer edge of the heliosphere is likely affected by the fluid dynamics of interactions with the interstellar medium as well as solar magnetic fields prevailing to the south, e.g. it is bluntly shaped with the northern hemisphere extending 9 AU farther than the southern hemisphere.[113] Beyond the heliopause, at around 230 AU, lies the bow shock, a plasma "wake" left by the Sun as it travels through the Milky Way.[118]

text:
inner Solar System and Jupiter
outer Solar System and Pluto
orbit of Sedna (detached object)
inner part of the Oort Cloud

text: Due to a lack of data, conditions in local interstellar space are not known for certain. It is expected that NASA's Voyager spacecraft, as they pass the heliopause, will transmit valuable data on radiation levels and solar wind to Earth.[119] How well the heliosphere shields the Solar System from cosmic rays is poorly understood. A NASA-funded team has developed a concept of a "Vision Mission" dedicated to sending a probe to the heliosphere.[120][121]

text: Detached objects

text: 90377 Sedna (520 AU average) is a large, reddish object with a gigantic, highly elliptical orbit that takes it from about 76 AU at perihelion to 940 AU at aphelion and takes 11,400 years to complete. Mike Brown, who discovered the object in 2003, asserts that it cannot be part of the scattered disc or the Kuiper belt because its perihelion is too distant to have been affected by Neptune's migration. He and other astronomers consider it to be the first in an entirely new population, sometimes termed "distant detached objects" (DDOs), which also may include the object 2000 CR105, which has a perihelion of 45 AU, an aphelion of 415 AU, and an orbital period of 3,420 years.[122] Brown terms this population the "inner Oort cloud" because it may have formed through a similar process, although it is far closer to the Sun.[123] Sedna is very likely a dwarf planet, though its shape has yet to be determined. The second unequivocally detached object, with a perihelion farther than Sedna's at roughly 81 AU, is 2012 VP113, discovered in 2012. Its aphelion is only half that of Sedna's, at 400–500 AU.[124][125]

text: Oort cloud

text: The Oort cloud is a hypothetical spherical cloud of up to a trillion icy objects that is thought to be the source for all long-period comets and to surround the Solar System at roughly 50,000 AU (around 1 light-year (ly)), and possibly to as far as 100,000 AU (1.87 ly). It is thought to be composed of comets that were ejected from the inner Solar System by gravitational interactions with the outer planets. Oort cloud objects move very slowly, and can be perturbed by infrequent events, such as collisions, the gravitational effects of a passing star, or the galactic tide, the tidal force exerted by the Milky Way.[126][127]

text: Boundaries

text: Much of the Solar System is still unknown. The Sun's gravitational field is estimated to dominate the gravitational forces of surrounding stars out to about two light years (125,000 AU). Lower estimates for the radius of the Oort cloud, by contrast, do not place it farther than 50,000 AU.[128] Despite discoveries such as Sedna, the region between the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud, an area tens of thousands of AU in radius, is still virtually unmapped. There are also ongoing studies of the region between Mercury and the Sun.[129] Objects may yet be discovered in the Solar System's uncharted regions.

text: Currently, the furthest known objects, such as Comet West, have aphelia around 70,000 AU from the Sun, but as the Oort cloud becomes better known, this may change.

text: Galactic context

text: The Solar System is located in the Milky Way, a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter of about 100,000 light-years containing about 100 billion stars.[130] The Sun resides in one of the Milky Way's outer spiral arms, known as the Orion–Cygnus Arm or Local Spur.[131] The Sun lies between 25,000 and 28,000 light-years from the Galactic Centre,[132] and its speed within the Milky Way is about 220 km/s, so that it completes one revolution every 225–250 million years. This revolution is known as the Solar System's galactic year.[133] The solar apex, the direction of the Sun's path through interstellar space, is near the constellation Hercules in the direction of the current location of the bright star Vega.[134] The plane of the ecliptic lies at an angle of about 60° to the galactic plane.[i]

text: The Solar System's location in the Milky Way is a factor in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. Its orbit is close to circular, and orbits near the Sun are at roughly the same speed as that of the spiral arms.[136][137] Therefore, the Sun passes through arms only rarely. Because spiral arms are home to a far larger concentration of supernovae, gravitational instabilities, and radiation that could disrupt the Solar System, this has given Earth long periods of stability for life to evolve.[136] The Solar System also lies well outside the star-crowded environs of the galactic centre. Near the centre, gravitational tugs from nearby stars could perturb bodies in the Oort cloud and send many comets into the inner Solar System, producing collisions with potentially catastrophic implications for life on Earth. The intense radiation of the galactic centre could also interfere with the development of complex life.[136] Even at the Solar System's current location, some scientists have speculated that recent supernovae may have adversely affected life in the last 35,000 years, by flinging pieces of expelled stellar core towards the Sun, as radioactive dust grains and larger, comet-like bodies.[138]

text: Neighbourhood

text: The Solar System is in the Local Interstellar Cloud or Local Fluff. It is thought to be near the neighbouring G-Cloud but it is not known if the Solar System is embedded in the Local Interstellar Cloud, or if it is in the region where the Local Interstellar Cloud and G-Cloud are interacting.[139][140] The Local Interstellar Cloud is an area of denser cloud in an otherwise sparse region known as the Local Bubble, an hourglass-shaped cavity in the interstellar medium roughly 300 light-years (ly) across. The bubble is suffused with high-temperature plasma, that suggests it is the product of several recent supernovae.[141]

text: There are relatively few stars within ten light-years of the Sun. The closest is the triple star system Alpha Centauri, which is about 4.4 light-years away. Alpha Centauri A and B are a closely tied pair of Sun-like stars, whereas the small red dwarf, Proxima Centauri, orbits the pair at a distance of 0.2 light-year. In 2016, a potentially habitable exoplanet was confirmed to be orbiting Proxima Centauri, called Proxima Centauri b, the closest confirmed exoplanet to the Sun.[142] The stars next closest to the Sun are the red dwarfs Barnard's Star (at 5.9 ly), Wolf 359 (7.8 ly), and Lalande 21185 (8.3 ly).

text: The largest nearby star is Sirius, a bright main-sequence star roughly 8.6 light-years away and roughly twice the Sun's mass and that is orbited by a white dwarf, Sirius B. The nearest brown dwarfs are the binary Luhman 16 system at 6.6 light-years. Other systems within ten light-years are the binary red-dwarf system Luyten 726-8 (8.7 ly) and the solitary red dwarf Ross 154 (9.7 ly).[143] The closest solitary Sun-like star to the Solar System is Tau Ceti at 11.9 light-years. It has roughly 80% of the Sun's mass but only 60% of its luminosity.[144] The closest known free-floating planetary-mass object to the Sun is WISE 0855−0714,[145] an object with a mass less than 10 Jupiter masses roughly 7 light-years away.

text: Comparison with extrasolar systems

text: Compared to other planetary systems the Solar System stands out in lacking planets interior to the orbit of Mercury.[146][147] The known Solar System also lacks super-Earths (Planet Nine could be a super-Earth beyond the known Solar System).[146] Uncommonly, it has only small rocky planets and large gas giants; elsewhere planets of intermediate size are typical—both rocky and gas—so there is no "gap" as seen between the size of Earth and of Neptune (with a radius 3.8 times as large). Also, these super-Earths have closer orbits than Mercury.[146] This led to hypothesis that all planetary systems start with many close-in planets, and that typically a sequence of their collisions causes consolidation of mass into few larger planets, but in case of the Solar System the collisions caused their destruction and ejection.[148][149]

text: The orbits of Solar System planets are nearly circular. Compared to other systems, they have smaller orbital eccentricity.[146] Although there are attempts to explain it partly with a bias in the radial-velocity detection method and partly with long interactions of a quite high number of planets, the exact causes remain undetermined.[146][150]

text: Visual summary

text: This section is a sampling of Solar System bodies, selected for size and quality of imagery, and sorted by volume. Some omitted objects are larger than the ones included here, notably Eris, because these have not been imaged in high quality.

text:
Solar System

Sun
(star)
Jupiter
(planet)
Saturn
(planet)
Uranus
(planet)
Neptune
(planet)
Earth
(planet)
Venus
(planet)

Mars
(planet)
Ganymede
(moon of Jupiter)
Titan
(moon of Saturn)
Mercury
(planet)
Callisto
(moon of Jupiter)
Io
(moon of Jupiter)
Moon
(moon of Earth)

Europa
(moon of Jupiter)
Triton
(moon of Neptune)
Pluto
(Kuiper belt object)
Titania
(moon of Uranus)
Rhea
(moon of Saturn)
Oberon
(moon of Uranus)
Iapetus
(moon of Saturn)

Charon
(moon of Pluto)
Umbriel
(moon of Uranus)
Ariel
(moon of Uranus)
Dione
(moon of Saturn)
Tethys
(moon of Saturn)
Ceres
(belt asteroid)
Vesta
(belt asteroid)

Enceladus
(moon of Saturn)
Miranda
(moon of Uranus)
Proteus
(moon of Neptune)
Mimas
(moon of Saturn)
Hyperion
(moon of Saturn)
Phoebe
(moon of Saturn)
Janus
(moon of Saturn)

Epimetheus
(moon of Saturn)
Lutetia
(belt asteroid)
Prometheus
(moon of Saturn)
Pandora
(moon of Saturn)
Mathilde
(belt asteroid)
Helene
(moon of Saturn)
Ida
(belt asteroid)

Phobos
(moon of Mars)
Deimos
(moon of Mars)

This box:

view
talk
edit

text:
Voyager 1 views the Solar System from over 6 billion km from Earth.

Venus, Earth ("Pale Blue Dot"), Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (13 September 1996).


document_title: Chase Center (arena)

question_text: when will the new warriors stadium be built

root

text: Chase Center (arena)

text: Location and design[edit]

text: The name of Chase Center was announced on January 28, 2016, as part of an agreement with JPMorgan Chase.[1][2][3] The planned location for the arena, which would house the Golden State Warriors, is in San Francisco[4] at Third St and 16th St.[5] The location will have an overlook of the water. The arena will have multiple layers and floors and will have a seating capacity of 18,000 people. It will also include a multi-purpose area that includes a theater configuration with an entrance overlooking a newly built park. It will contain 580,000 square feet (54,000 m2) of office and lab space and have 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of retail space. There will also be a public plaza that is 35,000 square feet.[6] The construction will include a parking facility of about 950 spaces and will be accessible to the public transportation around the area.[4] A new subway line is also under construction that will link the arena and the University of California, San Francisco to downtown hotels, convention centers and subway and commuter rail lines that serve the entire Bay Area. With a one-billion-dollar investment, Chase Center will anchor a district of 11 acres of restaurants, cafés, offices, public plazas and a new five-and-a-half-acre public waterfront park.[3]

tag: p

text: Planned opening[edit]

text: The plan for building a new arena was announced on May 22, 2012, at a Golden State Warriors press conference at the proposed site, attended by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, then-NBA Commissioner David Stern, California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, and Warriors staff and city officials.[7] A new privately financed, $500 million 17,000 to 19,000-seat arena was planned to be located on Pier 30-32 along the San Francisco Bay waterfront, situated between the San Francisco Ferry Building and AT&T Park.[8] A month after the proposal, the South Beach-Rincon-Mission Bay Neighborhood Association criticized the site and said that a second major league sport venue in the area would make it no longer "family friendly".[9] Former San Francisco mayor Art Agnos began speaking to dozens of community gatherings in opposition to the proposed arena, stating that the project was pushed by two out-of-town billionaires and would severely impact traffic and city views.[10] On December 30, 2013, a ballot proposition was submitted to the city titled the "Waterfront Height Limit Right to Vote Act".[11] The initiative made it onto the June 2014 ballot as Proposition B, and its passage would affect three major waterfront developments, including the proposed Warriors arena.[12]

text: On April 19, 2014, the Warriors abandoned plans for the pier site and purchased a 12-acre site owned by Salesforce.com at the Mission Bay neighborhood for an undisclosed amount. The arena project will be financed privately.[13] The architect for the project is MANICA Architecture and the current plan for Chase Center is to have it built by 2019 before the NBA season starts.[4] The plan for Chase Center to open earlier was pushed back multiple times due to many complaints about the location.[5] Construction on the arena began in January 2017.[4]

text: In April 2015, the Mission Bay site was opposed by the Mission Bay Alliance, which cited traffic, lack of parking, and use of space that could go to UCSF expansion among other things as their reasons for opposition. Their complaint is that Chase Center will be located near UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and AT&T Park and will create more traffic in San Francisco. Others say that this area can be used to expand the campus of UCSF.[5] To avoid the plan to build Chase Center being voided, representatives of the project have been working to address these issues such as traffic and parking.[14]

text: Current status[edit]

text: The Golden State Warriors had the official groundbreaking ceremony for Chase Center on January 17, 2017.[15]


document_title: Denver Broncos

question_text: when did the broncos win their last super bowl

question_tokens: when did the broncos win their last super bowl

text: Denver Broncos

text: Franchise history[edit]

text: 1960–1969: AFL era[edit]

text: The Denver Broncos were founded on August 14, 1959, when Minor League Baseball owner Bob Howsam was awarded an American Football League (AFL) charter franchise.[8] The Broncos won the first-ever AFL game over the Boston Patriots 13–10, on September 9, 1960. On August 5, 1967, they became the first-ever AFL team to defeat an NFL team, with a 13–7 win over the Detroit Lions in a preseason game.[8] However, the Broncos were not successful in the 1960s, compiling a record of 39–97–4 in the league.[9]

text: Denver came close to losing its franchise in 1965, until a local ownership group took control and rebuilt the team.[10] The team's first superstar, "Franchise" Floyd Little, was instrumental in keeping the team in Denver, due to his signing in 1967 as well as his Pro Bowl efforts on and off the field. The Broncos were the only original AFL team that never played in the title game, as well as the only original AFL team never to have a winning season while a member of the AFL during the upstart league's 10-year history.[11]

text: In 1972, the Broncos hired former Stanford University coach John Ralston as their head coach. In 1973, he was the UPI's AFC Coach of the Year, after Denver achieved its first winning season at 7–5–2. In five seasons with the Broncos, Ralston guided the team to winning seasons three times. Though Ralston finished the 1976 season with a 9–5 record, the team, as was the case in Ralston's previous winning seasons, still missed the playoffs. Following the season, several prominent players publicly voiced their discontent with Ralston, which soon led to his resignation.[12]

text: Red Miller, a long-time assistant coach was hired and along with the Orange Crush Defense (a nickname originating in the early 1970s, also the brand of the popular orange-flavored soft drink) and aging quarterback Craig Morton, took the Broncos to what was then a record-setting 12–2 regular season record and their first playoff appearance in 1977, and ultimately first Super Bowl, in which they were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys (Morton's former team), 27–10.[13]

text: In 1981, Broncos' owner Gerald Phipps, who had purchased the team in May 1961 from the original owner Bob Howsam, sold the team to Canadian financier Edgar Kaiser Jr., grandson of shipbuilding industrialist Henry J. Kaiser.[14] In 1984, the team was purchased by Pat Bowlen, who placed team ownership into a family trust sometime before 2004 and remained in day-to-day control until his battle with Alzheimer's disease forced him to cede the team to Joe Ellis in 2014.[5][6][15]

text: 1983–1998: John Elway era[edit]

text: Dan Reeves became the youngest head coach in the NFL when he joined the Broncos in 1981 as vice president and head coach. Quarterback John Elway, who played college football at Stanford, arrived in 1983 via a trade. Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts as the first pick of the draft, Elway proclaimed that he would shun football in favor of baseball (he was drafted by the New York Yankees to play center field and was also a pitching prospect), unless he was traded to a selected list of other teams, which included the Broncos.[16] Prior to Elway, the Broncos had over 24 different starting quarterbacks in its 23 seasons to that point.[17]

text: Reeves and Elway guided the Broncos to six post-season appearances, five AFC West divisional titles, three AFC championships and three Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl XXI, XXII and XXIV) during their 12-year span together. The Broncos lost Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants, 39–20; Super Bowl XXII to the Washington Redskins, 42–10; and Super Bowl XXIV to the San Francisco 49ers, 55–10; the latter score remains the most lopsided scoring differential in Super Bowl history. The last year of the Reeves-Elway era were marked by feuding, due to Reeves taking on play-calling duties after ousting Elway's favorite offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan after the 1991 season, as well as Reeves drafting quarterback Tommy Maddox out of UCLA instead of going with a wide receiver to help Elway. Reeves was fired after the 1992 season and replaced by his protégé and friend Wade Phillips, who had been serving as the Broncos' defensive coordinator.[18][19][20] Phillips was fired after a mediocre 1994 season, in which management felt he lost control of the team.

text: In 1995, Mike Shanahan, who had formerly served under Reeves as the Broncos' offensive coordinator, returned as head coach. Shanahan drafted rookie running back Terrell Davis. In 1996, the Broncos were the top seed in the AFC with a 13–3 record, dominating most of the teams that year. The fifth-seeded Jacksonville Jaguars, however, upset the Broncos 30–27 in the divisional round of the playoffs, ending the Broncos' 1996 run.[12]

text: 1997-1998: Back-to-Back Super Bowl Champions[edit]

text: During the 1997 season, Elway and Davis helped guide the Broncos to their first Super Bowl victory, a 31–24 win over the defending champion Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. Though Elway completed only 13 of 22 passes, throwing one interception and no touchdowns (he did, however, have a rushing touchdown), Davis rushed for 157 yards and a Super Bowl–record three touchdowns to earn the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award—this while overcoming a severe migraine headache that caused him blurred vision.[21] The Broncos repeated as Super Bowl champions the following season, defeating the Atlanta Falcons (led by Elway's longtime head coach Dan Reeves) in Super Bowl XXXIII, 34–19. Elway was named Super Bowl MVP, completing 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards, with an 80-yard touchdown to wide receiver Rod Smith and one interception.[20]

text: 1999–2011: Post-Elway era[edit]

text: John Elway retired following the 1998 season, and Brian Griese started at quarterback for the next four seasons. After a 6–10 record in 1999, the Broncos recovered in 2000, earning a Wild Card playoff berth, but losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. After missing the playoffs the following two seasons, former Arizona Cardinals' quarterback Jake Plummer replaced Griese in 2003, and led the Broncos to two straight 10–6 seasons, earning Wild Card playoff berths both years. However, the Broncos went on the road to face the Indianapolis Colts in back-to-back seasons and were blown out by more than 20 points in each game, allowing a combined 90 points.[12]

text: Plummer led the Broncos to a 13–3 record in 2005 and their first AFC West division title since 1998. After a first-round bye, the Broncos defeated the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, 27–13, denying New England from becoming the first NFL team ever to win three consecutive Super Bowl championships. The Broncos' playoff run came to an end next week, after losing at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game, 34–17. The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL.

text: The Broncos' defense began the first five games of the 2006 season allowing only one touchdown—an NFL record, but struggled down the season stretch. Plummer led the team to a 7–2 record, only to struggle and be replaced by rookie quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler went 2–3 as a starter, and the Broncos finished with a 9–7 record, losing the tiebreaker to the Kansas City Chiefs for the final playoff spot. Cutler's first full season as a starter in 2007 became the Broncos' first losing season since 1999, with a 7–9 record.

text: The 2008 season ended in a 52–21 loss at the San Diego Chargers, giving the Broncos an 8–8 record and their third straight season out of the playoffs. Mike Shanahan, the longest-tenured and most successful head coach in Broncos' franchise history, was fired after 14 seasons.[22]

text: On January 11, 2009, two weeks after Shanahan was fired, the Broncos hired former New England Patriots' offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as the team's new head coach.[23] Three months later, the team acquired quarterback Kyle Orton as part of a trade that sent Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears.

text: Under McDaniels and Orton, the Broncos jumped out to a surprising 6–0 start in 2009. However, the team lost eight of their next ten games, finishing 8–8 for a second consecutive season and missing the playoffs. The next season (2010), the Broncos set a new franchise record for losses in a single season, with a 4–12 record.[24] McDaniels was fired before the end of the 2010 season following a combination of the team's poor record and the fallout from a highly publicized videotaping scandal. Running backs coach Eric Studesville was named interim coach for the final four games of the 2010 season.[25] He chose to start rookie first-round draft choice Tim Tebow at quarterback for the final three games.

text: Following the 2010 season, Joe Ellis was promoted from Chief Operating Officer to team president, while John Elway returned to the organization as the team's Executive Vice President of Football Operations.[26] In addition, the Broncos hired John Fox as the team's 14th head coach. Fox previously served as the Carolina Panthers' head coach from 2002–10.[27]

text: Following a 1–4 start to the 2011 season, Tim Tebow replaced Kyle Orton as the Broncos' starting quarterback, and led the Broncos to an 8–8 record and the team's first playoff berth and division title since 2005. The Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round on a memorable 80-yard touchdown pass from Tebow to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime, setting a record for the fastest overtime in NFL history.[28] However, the Broncos were blown out by the New England Patriots in the Divisional round.[29]

text: 2012–2015: Peyton Manning era[edit]

text: In March 2012, the Broncos reached an agreement on a five-year, $96 million contract with former longtime Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning, who had recently missed the entire 2011 season following multiple neck surgeries.[30][31] This resulted in the Broncos subsequently trading incumbent quarterback Tim Tebow to the New York Jets.[32] The Broncos finished with a 13–3 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed in the 2012 playoffs, but were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional round.[33]

text: Like 2012, the Broncos finished with a 13–3 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed in 2013. In the 2013 playoffs, the Broncos defeated the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional round and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship. However, the Broncos were soundly defeated by the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII by a score of 43–8, the Broncos' first Super Bowl berth since winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998.[34]

text: Prior to the start of the 2014 season, the Broncos announced that Pat Bowlen, the team's owner since 1984, relinquished control of the team due to his battle with Alzheimer's disease, resulting in team president Joe Ellis and general manager John Elway assuming control of the team.[15] The Broncos finished the 2014 season with a 12–4 record and the AFC's No. 2 seed. However, the Broncos were defeated by the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional round of the 2014 playoffs, marking the third time in four seasons that the Broncos lost in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Quarterback Peyton Manning had been playing with strained quadriceps for the final month of the 2014 season.[35]

text: 2015: Super Bowl 50 Champions and Manning's Final Season[edit]

text: On January 12, 2015, one day after the aforementioned Divisional playoff loss to the Colts, the Broncos and head coach John Fox mutually agreed to part ways.[36] Fox left the Broncos with a .719 winning percentage in his four seasons as the Broncos' head coach—the highest in franchise history.[37] One week later, the Broncos hired Gary Kubiak as the team's 15th head coach. Kubiak served as a backup quarterback to executive vice president/general manager John Elway from 1983–1991, as well as the Broncos' offensive coordinator from 1995–2005.[38] Shortly after Kubiak became head coach, the Broncos underwent numerous changes to their coaching staff, including the hiring of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, under whom the Broncos' defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL during the 2015 season.[39] The Broncos finished with a 12–4 record and the AFC's No. 1 seed, despite Peyton Manning having his worst statistical season since his rookie year with the Indianapolis Colts in 1998[40] and backup quarterback Brock Osweiler filling in for Manning during the second half of the regular season due to Manning suffering from a foot injury. In the playoffs, the Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 23–16 in the Divisional Round, the New England Patriots 20–18 in the AFC Championship, and defeated the Carolina Panthers 24–10 in Super Bowl 50—the Broncos' third Super Bowl title.[41]

text: 2016–present: Defensive era[edit]

text: On March 7, 2016, quarterback Peyton Manning retired after 18 NFL seasons during a press conference at the team's Dove Valley headquarters.[42] Following Manning's retirement, the Broncos have undergone changes at the quarterback position, including the free agent departure of backup quarterback Brock Osweiler (who is now back with team after stints with the Texans and Browns) to the Houston Texans, the trade acquisition of Mark Sanchez from the Philadelphia Eagles and the selection of Paxton Lynch during the 2016 draft. Sanchez, Lynch and second-year quarterback Trevor Siemian competed for the starting quarterback spot during the off-season and preseason; however, Sanchez was released and Siemian was named the starter prior to the start of the season. The Broncos finished the season 9–7 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010. On January 2, 2017, coach Gary Kubiak announced his retirement, citing health as the main reason for retiring.[43] The Broncos would later hire Vance Joseph to be their new head coach on January 11, 2017.[44][45] The Broncos have since entered the era of their dominant defense consisting of the Ground Control, and the No Fly Zone.

text: Championships[edit]

text: Super Bowls[edit]

text:
Year
Coach
Super Bowl
Location
Opponent
Score
Record

1997
Mike Shanahan
XXXII
San Diego, CA
Green Bay Packers
31–24
12–4

1998
Mike Shanahan
XXXIII
Miami, FL
Atlanta Falcons
34–19
14–2

2015
Gary Kubiak
50
Santa Clara, CA
Carolina Panthers
24–10
12–4

Total Super Bowl championships won:
3

tag: table

text: AFC Championships[edit]

text:
Year
Coach
Location
Opponent
Score
Record

1977
Red Miller
Denver, CO
Oakland Raiders
20–17
12–2

1986
Dan Reeves
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Browns
23–20 (OT)
11–5

1987
Dan Reeves
Denver, CO
Cleveland Browns
38–33
10–4–1

1989
Dan Reeves
Denver, CO
Cleveland Browns
37–21
11–5

1997
Mike Shanahan
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh Steelers
24–21
12–4

1998
Mike Shanahan
Denver, CO
New York Jets
23–10
14–2

2013
John Fox
Denver, CO
New England Patriots
26–16
13–3

2015
Gary Kubiak
Denver, CO
New England Patriots
20–18
12–4

Total AFC Championships won:
8

text: Rivalries[edit]

text: Divisional[edit]

text: The Denver Broncos have three AFC West rivals—the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers and Oakland Raiders. All teams, along with the Broncos, were charter members of the American Football League (AFL), with each team placed in the AFL Western Division. The Broncos were barely competitive during the AFL years (1960–69), going a combined 10–49–1 against the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders.

text: Kansas City Chiefs[edit]

text: The Broncos have had several memorable matchups with the Chiefs, particularly during the years in which John Elway was the Broncos' starting quarterback (1983–98). The Broncos defeated the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the divisional round of the 1997 NFL playoffs, en route to their first Super Bowl victory. The Chiefs currently hold a 60–55 series lead over the Broncos, including the aforementioned 1997 divisional playoff game.

text: Oakland Raiders[edit]

text: The rivalry with the Raiders was ignited in 1977, when the Broncos advanced to their first Super Bowl by defeating the defending champion Raiders in the 1977 AFC Championship. The rivalry intensified in the mid-1990s, when Mike Shanahan was hired as the Broncos' head coach in 1995. Shanahan coached the Raiders in 1988 before being fired four games into the 1989 season. The Raiders currently hold a 62–52–2 series lead over the Broncos, including 1–1 in the playoffs.

text: San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers[edit]

text: Unlike their records against the Chiefs and Raiders, the Broncos currently have a winning record against the Chargers, with a 65–51–1 series lead, including 1–0 in the playoffs. The Broncos pulled off one of the largest comebacks in Monday Night Football history, when Peyton Manning led the Broncos from a 24–0 halftime deficit to a 35–24 win at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium during the 2012 season. The two teams met in the playoffs for the first time on January 12, 2014, at Denver's Sports Authority Field at Mile High, with the Broncos winning 24–17.

text: Seattle Seahawks[edit]

text: The Broncos had an old rivalry with the Seattle Seahawks, who were members of the AFC West from 1977–2001, prior to the Seahawks' move to the NFC West as part of the NFL's 2002 re-alignment.[46] During the 25 years in which the Seahawks resided in the AFC West, the Broncos went 32–18 against the Seahawks, including a loss at Seattle in the 1983 NFL playoffs. Since 2002, the two teams have split four interconference meetings,[47] and the two teams met in Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014, with the Seahawks winning by a score of 43–8.[48]

text: Historical[edit]

text: Aside from the aforementioned AFC West teams, the Broncos have had intra-conference rivalries over the years with the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.

text: Cleveland Browns[edit]

text: The Broncos had a brief rivalry with the Browns that arose from three AFC championship matches from 1986–89. In the 1986 AFC Championship, quarterback John Elway led The Drive to secure a tie in the waning moments at Cleveland Municipal Stadium; the Broncos went on to win in 23–20 in overtime.[49] One year later, the two teams met again in the 1987 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium. Denver took a 21–3 lead, but Browns' quarterback Bernie Kosar threw four touchdown passes to tie the game at 31–31 halfway through the 4th quarter. After a long drive, John Elway threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Sammy Winder to give Denver a 38–31 lead. Cleveland advanced to Denver's 8-yard line with 1:12 left, but Broncos' safety Jeremiah Castille stripped Browns' running back Earnest Byner of the football at the 2-yard line—a play that has been called The Fumble by Browns' fans. The Broncos recovered it, gave Cleveland an intentional safety, and went on to win 38–33.[50] The two teams met yet again in the 1989 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium, which the Broncos easily won by a score of 37–21.[51] Interestingly, the Broncos would not win the Super Bowl after any of the championship games where they beat the Browns.

text: Pittsburgh Steelers[edit]

text: As of the end of the 2015 season, the Broncos have met the Steelers in postseason play eight times, more than any other NFL team, with the Broncos owning a 5–3 playoff record vs. the Steelers.[52] Perhaps the most memorable postseason matchup occurred in the 1997 AFC Championship, in which the Broncos defeated the Steelers 24–21 at Three Rivers Stadium, en route to their first Super Bowl victory. Eight years later, the Steelers returned the favor at INVESCO Field at Mile High, defeating the Broncos 34–17 in the 2005 AFC Championship, and subsequently won Super Bowl XL.[53] In the Wild Card round of the 2011 playoffs, the Broncos stunned the Steelers 29–23 on the first play of overtime, when quarterback Tim Tebow connected with wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on an 80-yard game-winning touchdown pass.[54] The teams met again in the Divisional round of the 2015 playoffs at Denver, where the Broncos defeated the Steelers 23–16 on their way to a victory in Super Bowl 50.[55]

text: New England Patriots[edit]

text: The Broncos and Patriots met twice annually during the American Football League (AFL) years from 1960–69, and played in the first-ever AFL game on September 9, 1960.[56] Since 1995, the two teams have met frequently during the regular season, including nine consecutive seasons from 1995–2003.[57] As of the end of the 2015 season, the two teams have met in the playoffs five times, with the Broncos owning a 4–1 record.[58] The teams' first playoff match on January 4, 1987 was John Elway's first career playoff win,[59] while the teams' second playoff match on January 14, 2006 game was the Broncos' first playoff win since Elway's retirement after the 1998 season.[60] The game was also notable for Champ Bailey's 100-yard interception that resulted in a touchdown-saving tackle by Benjamin Watson at the 1-yard line.[61] On October 11, 2009, the two teams met with former Patriots' offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels as the Broncos' head coach. Both teams wore their AFL 50th anniversary jerseys.[62] The game featured a 98-yard drive in the fourth quarter, with a game-tying touchdown pass from Kyle Orton to Brandon Marshall, followed by an overtime drive led by Orton that resulted in a 41-yard game-winning field goal by Matt Prater.[63] The two teams met in the Divisional round of the 2011 playoffs, with the Patriots blowing out Tim Tebow and the Broncos by a score of 45–10.[29] The Broncos' rivalry with the Patriots later intensified when longtime Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning became the Broncos' starting quarterback from 2012–15. Manning and Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady maintained a legendary rivalry from 2001[64] until Manning's retirement after the 2015 season.[65] Though Brady dominated Manning in regular season play, winning nine of twelve meetings, Manning won three of five playoff meetings, the last of which was a Broncos' 20–18 win in the 2015 AFC Championship.[66]

text: Logos and uniforms[edit]

text: When the Broncos debuted in 1960, their original uniforms drew as much attention as their play on the field. They featured white and mustard yellow jerseys, with contrasting brown helmets, brown pants and vertically striped socks. Two years later, the team unveiled a new logo featuring a bucking horse, and changed their team colors to orange, royal blue and white. The 1962 uniform consisted of white pants, orange helmets, and either orange or white jerseys.[67]

text: In 1968, the Broncos debuted a design that became known as the "Orange Crush." Their logo was redesigned so that the horse was coming out of a "D." Additionally, the helmets were changed to royal blue, with thin stripes placed onto the sleeves, and other minor modifications were added. From 1969–1971, and again from 1978–79, the team wore orange pants with their white jerseys.[68]

text: The Broncos wore their white jerseys at home throughout the 1971 season, as well as for 1980 home games vs. the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys, the latter in hopes to bring out the "blue jersey jinx" which has followed the Cowboys for decades (it worked, the Broncos won 41–20). The Broncos wore their white jerseys for 1983 home games vs. the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals, but would not wear white at home again for two decades — see next section.[68][69]

text: In 1994, in honor of the 75th anniversary season of the NFL, the Broncos wore their 1965 throwback uniforms for two games—a Week 3 home game against the Raiders, as well a road game at the Buffalo Bills the following week.[68]

text: The Broncos radically changed their logo and uniforms in 1997, a design that the team continues to use to this day. The new logos and uniforms were unveiled on February 4, 1997.[70] Navy blue replaced royal blue on the team's color scheme. The current logo is a profile of a horse's head, with an orange mane and navy blue outlines.[71] The Broncos' popular live animal mascot Thunder was the inspiration to incorporate a horse-head profile as part of the logo on the team's helmets.[72] During a February 4, 1997 press conference introducing the new logo, the team president and the art director for Nike, who were the creators of the new design, described it as "a powerful horse with a fiery eye and mane."[73]

text: The Broncos began wearing navy blue jerseys, replacing their longtime orange jerseys that had been the team's predominant home jersey color since 1962. This new uniform design features a new word mark, numbering font and a streak that runs up and down the sides of both the jerseys and the pants. On the navy blue jerseys, the streak is orange, with an orange collar and white numerals trimmed in orange, while on the road white jerseys, the streak is navy blue, with a thin orange accent strip on both sides, a navy collar and navy numerals trimmed in orange. When they debuted, these uniforms were vilified by the press and fans, until the Broncos won their first ever Super Bowl in the new design that same season. The navy blue jerseys served as the team's primary home jersey until the end of the 2011 season — see next section.[71]

text: In 2002, the Broncos introduced an alternate orange jersey that is a mirror image of the aforementioned navy blue jerseys, but with orange and navy trading places. Like the road white jerseys, the white pants with the navy blue streaks running down the sides are worn with this uniform. This jersey was used only once in the 2002 and 2004 seasons, and were used twice per season from 2008–2011. Mike Shanahan, the team's head coach from 1995–2008, was not a big fan of the alternate orange jerseys.[74] The Broncos previously wore orange jerseys as a throwback uniform in a Thanksgiving Day game at the Dallas Cowboys in 2001.[75]

text: The team also introduced navy blue pants in 2003, with orange side streaks to match with the navy blue jerseys. Though they were part of the uniform change in 1997 (in fact, they were worn for a couple of 1997 preseason games) and most players wanted to wear them, the only player who vetoed wearing them was John Elway, thereby delaying their eventual introduction.[76] From 2003–2011, these pants were primarily used for select prime-time and late-season home games (excluding the 2008 season), and since 2012, are used exclusively with the now-alternate navy blue jerseys — see next section.

text: On November 16, 2003, the Broncos wore their white jerseys at home for the first time since 1983, in a game vs. the San Diego Chargers. This was compensation for a uniform mix-up, after the teams' first meeting at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium in Week 2 earlier that season, when the Chargers were the team that was supposed to declare their uniform color. The Chargers were planning to wear their white jerseys, but the visiting Broncos came to the stadium in white, and were fined $25,000 by the NFL as a result. When the two teams met at INVESCO Field at Mile High later that season (Week 11), the NFL allowed the visiting Chargers to choose their uniform color in advance, and they chose navy blue, forcing the Broncos to wear their white jerseys at home.[76]

text: In 2009, in honor of their 50th anniversary season as one of the eight original American Football League teams, the Broncos wore their 1960 throwback uniforms (brown helmets, mustard yellow and brown jerseys) for games against two fellow AFL rivals—a Week 5 home game vs. the New England Patriots, as well as the following week at the San Diego Chargers.[77][78]

text: Beginning in 2012, the orange jerseys that served as the alternate colored jerseys from 2002–2011 became the primary home jersey, while the navy blue jerseys that served as the primary home jersey from 1997–2011 switched to alternate designation. The change was made by executive John Elway, who had always preferred the orange jerseys.[71] Since the 2012 uniform change, the team has worn the alternate navy blue jerseys for at least one home game per season, with the exception of 2013, in which the Broncos wore their alternate navy blue uniforms for an October 6, 2013 road game at the Dallas Cowboys.[79] The team will either wear the navy blue or the white pants — with the orange side stripes — to match with the alternate navy blue jerseys. The team initially did not wear the white pants with the orange side stripes, until a November 1, 2015 game vs. the Green Bay Packers, in which the Broncos wore said design in order to match the uniform ensemble that was used during the team's Super Bowl XXXII win over the Packers.[80]

text: As the designated home team in Super Bowl 50, the Broncos — who have an 0–4 Super Bowl record when using their standard orange jerseys — chose to wear their white jerseys as the designated "home" team.[81]

text: In 2016, the Broncos' unveiled a new Color Rush uniform, which the team wore for a Thursday Night game at the San Diego Chargers on October 13, 2016. The uniform kit contained the following features: orange pants, which the team wore for the first time since 1979, orange socks and shoes, along with block-style numerals trimmed in navy blue that mirrored the team's 1968–1996 uniform style. Due to the NFL's one-helmet rule implemented in 2013, the helmets remained the same, with the team temporarily replacing the modern primary logo with the throwback "D-horse" logo.[82]

text: Uniforms in the Super Bowl[edit]

text:
Super Bowl
Opponent
Favorite
Jersey Color
Result

XII
Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys by 6

L 10–27

XXI
New York Giants
Giants by 9.5

L 20–39

XXII
Washington Redskins
Broncos by 3

L 10–42

XXIV
San Francisco 49ers
49ers by 12

L 10–55

XXXII
Green Bay Packers
Packers by 11

W 31–24

XXXIII
Atlanta Falcons
Broncos by 7.5

W 34–19

XLVIII
Seattle Seahawks
Broncos by 2

L 8–43

50
Carolina Panthers
Panthers by 5.5

W 24–10

text: Home field[edit]

text: For most of their history, the Denver Broncos played in Mile High Stadium. The AFL Broncos played at the University of Denver's Hilltop Stadium from time to time, including the first-ever victory of an AFL team over an NFL team: The Broncos beat the Detroit Lions on August 5, 1967, in a preseason game. The team has sold out every home game (including post-season games) since the AFL–NFL merger in 1970, with the exception of two replacement games during the 1987 strike (but both were sold out before the strike).

text: During home games, the attendance is announced to the crowd, along with the number of no-shows (the fans subsequently boo the no-shows). The fans are also known to chant "IN-COM-PLETE!" every time the visiting team throws an incomplete pass.[83] The stadium's legendary home-field advantage is regarded as one of the best in the NFL, especially during the playoffs. The Broncos had the best home record in pro football over a 32-year span from 1974–2006 (191–65–1). Mile High Stadium was one of the NFL's loudest stadiums, with steel flooring instead of concrete, which may have given the Broncos an advantage over opponents, plus the advantage of altitude conditioning for the Broncos. In 2001, the team moved into Invesco Field at Mile High, built next to the former site of the since-demolished Mile High Stadium. Sportswriter Woody Paige, along with many of Denver's fans, however, often refuse to call the new stadium by its full name, preferring to use "Mile High Stadium" because of its storied history and sentimental import. Additionally, The Denver Post had an official policy of referring to the stadium as simply "Mile High Stadium" in protest, but dropped this policy in 2004.[84]

text: Prior to the 2011 season, Englewood, Colorado-based sporting goods retailer Sports Authority claimed the naming rights of Invesco Field, which became known as Sports Authority Field at Mile High.[85][86] However, in the summer of 2016, Sports Authority went bankrupt, and the Broncos have been seeking a new corporate sponsor for their stadium ever since.[87]

text: The altitude has also been attributed as part of the team's home success. The stadium displays multiple references to the stadium's location of 5,280 feet (1.000 mi) above sea level, including a prominent mural just outside the visiting team's locker room. The team training facility, the UCHealth Training Center (formerly known as the Paul D. Bowlen Memorial Broncos Centre), is a state-of-the-art facility located in Dove Valley, Colorado. With 13.5 acres of property, the facility hosts three full-size fields, a complete weight and training facility, and a cafeteria.[88][89]

text: In their more than half-century of existence, the Broncos have never been shut out at home, a streak of over 400 games as of the 2016 season.[90]

text: In late 2012, the Broncos announced that the stadium will receive $30 million upgrades including a new video board in the south end zone that is planned to be three times larger than the previous display. The renovations were finished before kickoff of the 2013 season.[91]

text: Statistics[edit]

text: Season-by-season records[edit]

text: Players of note[edit]

text: Current roster[edit]

text:
Denver Broncos roster

view
talk
edit

Quarterbacks

12 Paxton Lynch
17 Brock Osweiler
13 Trevor Siemian

Running backs

22 C. J. Anderson
23 Devontae Booker
28 Jamaal Charles
33 De'Angelo Henderson
32 Andy Janovich FB

Wide receivers

16 Bennie Fowler
14 Cody Latimer
84 Isaiah McKenzie
10 Emmanuel Sanders
87 Jordan Taylor
88 Demaryius Thomas

Tight ends

85 Virgil Green
82 Jeff Heuerman
86 Austin Traylor

Offensive linemen

73 Allen Barbre G
72 Garett Bolles T
76 Max Garcia G
79 Cyrus Kouandjio T
65 Ronald Leary G
60 Connor McGovern C
61 Matt Paradis C
71 Donald Stephenson T
68 Elijah Wilkinson T

Defensive linemen

99 Adam Gotsis DE
96 Shelby Harris DE
92 Zach Kerr DE
94 Domata Peko NT
90 Kyle Peko NT
95 Derek Wolfe DE

Linebackers

50 Zaire Anderson ILB
48 Shaquil Barrett OLB
51 Todd Davis ILB
41 Jerrol Garcia-Williams ILB
43 Joseph Jones LB
54 Brandon Marshall ILB
58 Von Miller OLB
53 Deiontrez Mount OLB
56 Shane Ray OLB
57 DeMarcus Walker OLB

Defensive backs

20 Jamal Carter SS
25 Chris Harris Jr. CB
27 Brendan Langley CB
34 Will Parks FS
29 Bradley Roby CB
31 Justin Simmons SS
26 Darian Stewart FS
21 Aqib Talib CB

Special teams

 9 Riley Dixon P
42 Casey Kreiter LS
 8 Brandon McManus K

Reserve lists

80 Jake Butt TE (IR)
93 Jared Crick DE (IR)
83 A. J. Derby TE (IR)
11 Carlos Henderson WR (IR)
 6 Chad Kelly QB (IR)
52 Corey Nelson ILB (IR)
77 Billy Turner G (IR)
75 Menelik Watson T (IR)
97 Billy Winn DE (IR)

Practice squad

55 Dillon Day C
64 Gabe Ikard C
98 Tyrique Jarrett NT
-- Stansly Maponga OLB
89 Brian Parker TE
81 Tim Patrick WR
38 Marcus Rios CB
15 Hunter Sharp WR
35 Dymonte Thomas S

Rookies in italics
Roster updated November 25, 2017
Depth chart • Transactions
53 Active, 9 Inactive, 9 Practice squad
→ AFC rosters → NFC rosters

AFC East
BUF
MIA
NE
NYJ
North
BAL
CIN
CLE
PIT
South
HOU
IND
JAX
TEN
West
DEN
KC
LAC
OAK

NFC East
DAL
NYG
PHI
WAS
North
CHI
DET
GB
MIN
South
ATL
CAR
NO
TB
West
ARI
LAR
SF
SEA

text: Retired numbers[edit]

text:
Denver Broncos retired numbers

No.
Player
Position
Career

7
John Elway
QB
1983–98

18
Frank Tripucka
Peyton Manning
QB
1960–63
2012–15 †

44
Floyd Little
RB
1967–75

text: † Note: No. 18 was re-issued for Peyton Manning after Tripucka gave his approval; it was used by Manning from the 2012 season until his retirement after the 2015 season.[92] Manning's name was added to the retired number's banner as an honorable mention.[93][94][95]

text: Pro Football Hall of Famers[edit]

text:
Denver Broncos Hall of Famers

No.
Name
Position(s)
Season(s)
Inducted

24
Brown, WillieWillie Brown
CB
1963–66
1984

30
Davis, TerrellTerrell Davis
RB
1995–2001
2017

33
Dorsett, TonyTony Dorsett
RB
1988
1994

7
Elway, JohnJohn Elway
QB
General Manager
1983–98
2011–present
2004

65
Zimmerman, GaryGary Zimmerman
OT
1993–97
2008

44
Little, FloydFloyd Little
RB
1967–75
2010

84
Sharpe, ShannonShannon Sharpe
TE
1990–99,
2002–03
2011

text: Ring of Fame[edit]

text: The Broncos have a Ring of Fame on the Level 5 façade of Sports Authority Field at Mile High, which honors the following:

text:
Denver Broncos Ring of Fame

No.
Name
Position(s)
Seasons
Inducted

23
Goose Gonsoulin
S
1960–66
1984

87
Rich Jackson
DE
1967–72
1984

44
Floyd Little
RB
1967–75
1984

87
Lionel Taylor
WR
1960–66
1984

–
Gerald Phipps
Owner
1961–81
1985

12
Charley Johnson
QB
1972–75
1986

70
Paul Smith
DE
1968–78
1986

18
Frank Tripucka
QB
1960–63
1986

36
Billy Thompson
S
1969–81
1987

7
Craig Morton
QB
1977–82
1988

25
Haven Moses
WR
1972–81
1988

15
Jim Turner
PK
1971–79
1988

53
Randy Gradishar
LB
1974–83
1989

57
Tom Jackson
LB
1973–86
1992

20
Louis Wright
CB
1975–86
1993

7
John Elway
QB
General manager
1983–98
2011–present
1999

77
Karl Mecklenburg
LB
1983–95
2001

49
Dennis Smith
S
1981–94
2001

65
Gary Zimmerman
OT
1993–97
2003

27
Steve Atwater
S
1989–98
2005

30
Terrell Davis
RB
1995–2001
2007

84
Shannon Sharpe
TE
1990–99, 2002–03
2009

80
Rod Smith
WR
1994–2006
2012

66
Tom Nalen
C
1994–2007
2013

21
Gene Mingo
RB, K, RS
1960–64
2014

–
Dan Reeves
Head coach
1981–92
2014

80
Rick Upchurch
WR, RS
1975–83
2014

–
Pat Bowlen
Owner
1984–present
2015

1
Jason Elam
PK
1993–2007
2016

73
Simon Fletcher
LB/DE
1985–95
2016

47
John Lynch
S
2004–07
2016

—
Red Miller
Head coach
1977–80
2017

text: Super Bowl MVPs[edit]

text:
Super Bowl MVP Winners

SB
Player
Position

XXXII
Terrell Davis
RB

XXXIII
John Elway
QB

50
Von Miller
LB

text: Colorado Sports Hall of Fame[edit]

text: Staff[edit]

text: Head coaches[edit]

text: Current staff[edit]

text:
Denver Broncos staff

v
t
e

Front Office

Owner – The Pat Bowlen Trust
President/Chairman/CEO – Joe Ellis
President of Football Operations/General Manager – John Elway
Director of Football Administration – Mike Sullivan
Director of Player Personnel – Matt Russell
Senior Personnel Advisor – Tom Heckert Jr.
Senior Personnel Advisor – Gary Kubiak
Director of Pro Personnel – A.J. Durso
Director of College Scouting – Brian Stark
Director of Football Analytics – Mitch Tanney

Head Coaches

Head Coach – Vance Joseph
Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs – Eric Studesville
Assistant to Head Coach – Phil Rauscher

Offensive Coaches

Offensive Coordinator– Bill Musgrave
Wide Receivers – Tyke Tolbert
Tight Ends – Geep Chryst
Offensive Line – Jeff Davidson
Assistant Offensive Line – Chris Strausser
Quarterbacks – Klint Kubiak
Offensive Quality Control – Christopher Kragthorpe

Defensive Coaches

Defensive Coordinator – Joe Woods
Defensive Line – Bill Kollar
Linebackers – Reggie Herring
Outside Linebackers – Fred Pagac
Secondary – Marcus Robertson
Assistant Secondary – Johnnie Lynn
Defensive Assistant – Chris Beake
Defensive Quality Control – Charles Gordon

Special Teams Coaches

Special Teams Coordinator – Brock Olivo
Assistant Special Teams – Chris Gould

Strength and Conditioning

Strength and Conditioning – Luke Richesson
Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Mike Eubanks
Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Anthony Lomando
Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Cedric Smith

→ Coaching Staff
→ Management
→ More NFL staffs

AFC East
BUF
MIA
NE
NYJ
North
BAL
CIN
CLE
PIT
South
HOU
IND
JAX
TEN
West
DEN
KC
LAC
OAK

NFC East
DAL
NYG
PHI
WAS
North
CHI
DET
GB
MIN
South
ATL
CAR
NO
TB
West
ARI
LAR
SF
SEA

text: Radio and television[edit]

text: The Broncos' flagship radio station is currently KOA, 850AM, a 50,000-watt station owned by Clear Channel Communications. Dave Logan is the play-by-play announcer, with former Broncos' wide receiver Ed McCaffrey serving as the color commentator beginning in 2012, replacing Brian Griese.[96] Until 2010, preseason games not selected for airing on national television were shown on KCNC, channel 4, which is a CBS owned-and-operated station, as well as other CBS affiliates around the Rocky Mountain region. On May 26, 2011, the Broncos announced that KUSA channel 9, an NBC affiliate also known as 9NEWS in the Rocky Mountain region, will be the team's new television partner for preseason games.[97]

text: In 2011, the Broncos began a partnership with KJMN, 92.1 FM, a leading Spanish language radio station owned by Entravision Communications (EVC). The partnership also includes broadcasting rights for a half-hour weekly TV show on KCEC, the local Univision affiliate operated by Entravision Communications.[97]

text: Notable fans and in the media[edit]

text:
Tim McKernan, a.k.a. Barrel Man, began wearing a barrel in 1977 after making a $10 bet with his brother, Scott, that by wearing one he could get on television. McKernan won the bet, and the barrel he had painted to look like an Orange Crush soda can became his signature costume, and resulted in him becoming one of the Broncos' most recognized fans and a popular mascot. McKernan died on December 5, 2009.[98]
The animated television show South Park, set in Park County, Colorado, often mentions the Denver Broncos; show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone both grew up in Colorado as devout Broncos fans.[99]
In The Simpsons episode "You Only Move Twice", Hank Scorpio gives Homer Simpson the Denver Broncos as a thank-you gift for helping him. Homer complains that he wanted to own the Dallas Cowboys, as the Broncos team that just arrived are playing very sloppy football on his front lawn (a reference to the team losing four Super Bowl appearances, three by significant margins including Super Bowl XII against Dallas). Incidentally, the Broncos were 13–3 in the 1996 season, and won the Super Bowl the next 2 seasons. In the episode, "The Bonfire of the Manatees", Homer picks the Broncos to win the Super Bowl over the Seattle Seahawks. The two teams later did play against each other in Super Bowl XLVIII which aired on Fox, the U.S. home of The Simpsons.
In the Mork & Mindy episode "Hold That Mork", Mork's character, played by Robin Williams, became the first male cheerleader in Broncos' history. As a member of the "Pony Express", he trotted out on the field at Mile High Stadium during an actual Broncos' game vs. the New England Patriots on November 11, 1979. The episode aired exactly two weeks later.[100]
Many former Broncos are now in broadcasting, including Shannon Sharpe, Mark Schlereth, Alfred Williams, Tom Jackson, Ed McCaffrey, Brian Griese, David Diaz-Infante, Terrell Davis and John Lynch.

tag: ul