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There are more planets than stars in our galaxy. The current count
orbiting our star: eight.
The inner, rocky planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The outer
planets are gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and ice
giants Uranus and Neptune.
What is a Planet?
This seemingly simple question doesn't have a simple answer. Everyone
knows that Earth, Mars and Jupiter are planets. But
both Pluto and Ceres were once considered planets until new
discoveries triggered scientific debate about how to best describe
them—a vigorous debate that continues to this day. The most
recent definition of a planet was adopted by the International
Astronomical Union in 2006. It says a planet must do three things:
Our understanding about the universe and our place in it has changed
over time. New information can cause us to rethink what we know and
reevaluate how we classify objects in order to better understand them.
New ideas and perspectives can come from questioning a theory or
seeing where a classification breaks down.
An Evolving Definition
Defining the term planet is important, because such definitions reflect
our understanding of the origins, architecture, and evolution of our solar
system. Over historical time, objects categorized as planets have
changed. The ancient Greeks counted the Earth's Moon and Sun as
planets along with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Earth was
not considered a planet, but rather was thought to be the central object
around which all the other celestial objects orbited. The first known
model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe with the
Earth revolving around it was presented by Aristarchus of Samos in the
third century BCE, but it was not generally accepted. It wasn't until the
16th century that the idea was revived by Nicolaus Copernicus.
Ceres was discovered between Mars and Jupiter in 1801 and originally
classified as a planet. But as many more objects were subsequently
found in the same region, it was realized that Ceres was the first of a
class of similar objects that were eventually termed asteroids (star-like)
or minor planets.
Pluto, discovered in 1930, was identified as the ninth planet. But Pluto is
much smaller than Mercury and is even smaller than some of the
planetary moons. It is unlike the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars), or the gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn), or the ice giants
(Uranus, Neptune). Charon, its huge satellite, is nearly half the size of
Pluto and shares Pluto's orbit. Though Pluto kept its planetary status
through the 1980s, things began to change in the 1990s with some new
discoveries.
1. A planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has
sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it
assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has
cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
2. A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b)
has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so
that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, (c) has
not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.
3. All other objects,except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred to
collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".
Debate—and Discoveries—Continue
Astronomers and planetary scientists did not unanimously agree with
these definitions. To some it appeared that the classification scheme
was designed to limit the number of planets; to others it was incomplete
and the terms unclear. Some astronomers argued that location (context)
is important, especially in understanding the formation and evolution of
the solar system.