How many planets are there in our solar system?
Question:
Answer:
According to the new defintion, in 2007, there are 8 "planets".
There are also three dwarf planets (two of which were planets at one time) and a couple million minor planets (including the 3 dwarf planets which have retained their 'minor planet' designations).
There are 6 bodies that at some time in the past, were called planets but are no longer considered planets (nor dwarfs, nor minor): Sun, Moon, 4 largest satellites of Jupiter.
3 asteroids that were considered planets but are now minor planet: Pallas, Juno, Vesta
Summary:
Mercury: always was and still is a planet.
Venus: always was and still is a planet.
Earth: recognized as a planet in 17th century. Still a planet.
Mars: always was and still is a planet
Jupiter: always was and still is a planet
Saturn: always was and still is a planet
Uranus: discovered 1781 (1st reported as a comet); recognised as a planet later in 1781, still a planet.
Neptune: discovered 1846, immediately recognised as a planet, still a planet.
Pluto: discovered 1930 as a planet (thought to be bigger than Earth); reclassified as dwarf planet in 2006.
Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, discovered 1610 by Galileo who reported them as "planets around Jupiter". Quickly reclassified as "moons" or satellites.
Ceres (1801), Pallas, Juno, Vesta were first classified as planets. For a while, everyone thought there were only 4 between Mars and Jupiter. With the discovered of Astraea and Hebe after a long gap, the first 4 were demoted to asteroid (and minor planet).
Eight. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
8, pluto isnt considered a planet anymore.. its a shame it was one of my fav
8, pluto is a minor planet
8 planets currently.
there was 9 but they decided pluto was not a planet then they thought they(scientists) had found another planet so really i dont know either 8 or 9.
technically 8 b/c pluto is not considered a planet anymore
How are we defining "planet?"
Indeed, i agree with the above people, there is 8 that we know of.
Pluto used to be the 9th but it has in more recent times been discovered that Pluto is but a single example of a type of ice body which is very common in the outer reaches of the solar system and is therefor not a planet after all.
8 pluto was re-classed
Currently there are 8. Pluto isn't a planet scientist's say. But I did find out that there is a planet that's a member of the kuiper belt. The planet's are Mercury,Venus.Earth,Mars,Jupit... ,Neptune
actually its 9 again. scientists classified pluto as a dwarf planet, but now they have reconsidered it as a regular planet that might have been a astroied.
I thought it was 8 regular (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), and then the two dwarf - Pluto and the new one, Eris.
8, since pluto got plutoed.
8
Pluto is in limbo for now.
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