The most commonly accepted answer is 8 planets due to the International Astronomical Union’s 2006 update to the definition of a planet. The IAU changed the criteria for a celestial body to be considered a planet, which excluded Pluto and several other celestial bodies previously classified as planets.
This left 8 planets in the Solar System: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Some people also include Earth’s moon as a planet, bringing the total number of planets in the Solar System to nine.
Some propose that the addition of Dwarf Planets such as Pluto, Ceres, and Eris bring the total number to 11. However, due to the 2006 update, these bodies are no longer classified as planets and instead are categorized as Dwarf Planets or Small Solar System Bodies.
What are the 11 planets called?
The 11 planets in our Solar System are called Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, dwarf planet Ceres, dwarf planet Pluto, and Eris. Mercury is the closest to the Sun and is known as the innermost planet.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is known as Earth’s twin due to the similarities between the two. Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and it is the only planet in our Solar System with liquid water, making it the only planet known to have life on it.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is known for having the tallest mountain and the deepest canyon in the Solar System. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and is the largest planet in the Solar System, made up mostly of gas.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and is known for its shimmering rings. Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, and it is an icy giant and the only planet that spins on its side. Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System.
The two dwarf planets are Ceres, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and Pluto, located in the Kuiper belt, beyond Neptune’s orbit. Eris is another dwarf planet located beyond the orbit of Neptune.
Are there 8 or 12 planets in our solar system?
There are 8 planets in our solar system. These are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. In 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet, meaning that it is no longer considered as one of the 8 planets in our solar system.
Some people believe that there should be 12 planets if we include the dwarf planets of Ceres, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris, but these dwarf planets are much smaller than regular planets and thus are not included in most definitions of a planet.
What planet has no name?
There are currently no known planets that have no name. Astronomers have named and catalogued all of the planets that have been discovered so far and none of them have been left without a name. Most of the time, planets are named after the people or groups who first identified them, either from observations from Earth or from spacecraft sent to explore them.
For example, planets discovered in the Kuiper Belt, such as Eris, Makemake, and Haumea, were each named after deities of creation or fertility in various mythologies.
What will Planet 9 be named?
At this point, it is unclear what Planet 9 will be named, as the potential ninth planet has yet to be officially discovered and confirmed. Astronomers have nicknamed the hypothetical planet ‘Planet Nine,’ and the International Astronomical Union (the official body responsible for assigning planetary and satellite names) has created a list of suggested names for it.
This unofficial list includes Caelus (the Roman god of the sky and heavens), Persephone (the daughter of Zeus and Demeter in Greek mythology), Planet PGM-1 (in reference to the Palomar-NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Project), and TNO-90037 (the first known trans-Neptunian object, or Trans-Neptunian object).
It’s also possible that ‘Planet Nine’ will eventually remain its nickname if the planet is not discovered. However, no decisions have been made and the official name of Planet Nine remains unknown.