how many planets are there in the sky?

Question

My boyfriend loves looking at stars and moons and such. I don't know much about it. But I want to learn.

Answer 1

Since most people have either accurately or sarcastically answered your question, here is some fun things you can look for while planet gazing.

The inner planets (Mercury & Venus) will show you phases the same as the moon has except when they get close to a full "planet" (like a full moon) they will be very close to the other side of their orbit and will be difficult to see due to being close to the sun. The closer in the orbit crescents are more interesting anyway. On the outer planets, Mars will be reddish with some darker parts and sometimes you can see the polar "ice" caps (said to be frozen carbon dioxide). Jupiter (the largest) has the ongoing "red spot" (thought to be a giant storm) that passes around it. Another interesting Jupiter tidbit is you can clearly and easily see four of its moons (which will change position from night to night) with just a moderately powerful telescope. Saturn has, of course, it's rings which will be at different angles of view depending on what part of its orbit it's in. The rest (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) are very, very distant and extremely difficult to see with anything except very expensive equipment.

And don't just focus on the planets. There is a multitude of clusters , galaxys, multiple star systems and nebulae to check out (not to mention the occasional comet and meteor shower that comes now and then)

Hope you have fun with it...

Answer 2

No one knows how many planets there are in the universe. In our solar system, we have traditionally counted 9 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto, although there is some dispute about whether Pluto really should be a planet, since it is so small. But then last year, scientists announced that a 10th planet, bigger and further out than Pluto, had been discovered. As far as I know it hasn't been named yet.

Hope that helps. Here's some links about the 10th planet.

Answer 3

Currently we call nine bodies in the solar system planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

However their has been a body recently discovered that is beyond Pluto, and is larger then Pluto yet their is a reluctance to call it a planet because it is much like cometary bodies. The thing is this calls into question to assignment of Pluto as a planet as well. So best answer to number of planets is 8-10...

Answer 4

The common accepted value is that OUR "planet/sky" ends about 100km above sea level. That is for our poor little planet. Above (or after that), it is "Space". The space (or more precisely the "Universe") has NO end (no boundaries). To visualise this with our poor perceptions of a curved universe, imagine a balloon. This is the Universe. Mark dots on the balloon: these are stars, planets or galaxies. The hard thing to conceive is that we are only THE SURFACE OF THE BALLOON, and there is NOTHING INSIDE. So, as you move around the balloon, you will never reach an end. There are no "ends" on the surface of a sphere... Once you understand that, the mysteries disappear... (In reality, it is a bit more complex than that)

Answer 5

9

Answer 6

Although there are nine planets of course as said, not all of them can be seen. Right now, If im correct, pluto is one of them, not just with the naked eye, but in its orbit, it cant be seen right now though I may be mistaken. However, If you look carefully, you can sometimes notice "planets" or perhaps the mysterious "Brown dwarf" around other stars. These planets are very unlike ours, with temperatures of about 1300F on average at the atmosphere, and if you have watched Star Wars episode 3, with the scene where Obi Wan and Anikin fight to the death, the moons are pictured to look just like that planet it took place on, without the buildings: Rocky, Rivers of hot lava, and more.

Answer 7

Right now Jupiter is the bright star high in the South in the early evening. Mars and Saturn are medium bright stars close to each other low in the West at sunset. Mercury is even lower in the West at sunset and is probably hard to see in the glare of the Sun, which is usually the case for Mercury. Venus is the bright star in the East just before sunrise. Uranus and Neptune are high in the sky just before sunrise but you need a telescope to see them. Forget about Pluto, it is way way too dim to see even with a pretty big amateur telescope, and even then it just looks like a dim star. Check out the source for nice sky maps.

Answer 8

IDIOT MAN!!! There are actually 9 planets in the outerspace and scientists or astronauts might find more but we don't know. They are named Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune and Pluto.

To memorize the planets, just memorize this sentence:
My Very Educated Mom Just Served Us Nine PIzzas.

Answer 9

There are nine planets in our solar sistem: besides our planet, we have mercury, marth, venus, jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune and pluto. With naked eyes it's possible to see venus (at the end of the day, or just before morning, depending of the month), mercury, marth (the red one), jupiter (the brighter), and saturn. With good binoculars you can see the four bigger moons of jupiter, Io, Ganimedes, Calisto and Europa. And the saturn's rings. The other planets, uranus, neptune and pluto are visible only using powerful telescopes.

Answer 10

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

Looking casually in the night sky, you will easily see Venus (which is very bright, only the sun and moon are brighter!) Mars and Jupiter. Also visible but more faint are Saturn, and near the horizon, tiny Mercury.