how many planets are there?

Answer 1

8 not includin pluto

Answer 2

there are eight planets: mercury, venus, earth, mars, jupiter, saturn, uranus, and neptune.

http://www.iau.org/fileadmin/content/pdfs/Resolution_GA26-5-6.pdf

pluto is not a planet because pluto orbits the sun, is round, does not have an isolated orbit (a bunch of other similar bodies have similar orbits.), and is not a satellite it is defined as a dwarf planet. this does not change anything about the solar system or pluto. it just corrects the mistake of classifying pluto as a planet initially.

i have been waiting for this since i was about twelve. i feel somewhat satisfied. i knew that pluto didn't fit the pattern set by the major bodies in the solar system so it was an anomaly. it just felt illogical and "out of place". this was the right thing to do, believe me. i don't understand why so many are having such a problem with this.

i don't know how long this will drag on tho. many planetary scientists are not satisfied that the definition is not rigorous enough.

Answer 3

2

Answer 4

There are 8 planets in our Solar System and 3 dwarf planets (Pluto Xena and Ceres),

Also 162 moons of those planets and 4 moons of those dwarf planets and about 80 further moons of Small Solar System Bodies.

Also 800+ Kuiper Belt Objects, a further 200+ other Trans-Neptunian Objects and a massive 338,000+ minor planets in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Of the 206 extra-solar planets known currently 204 orbit stars and 2 are free-floating (maybe the IAU disqualifies them as they don't orbit a star).

And 2 stars, one 11 light years away in the constellation Cetus and one 41 light years away in the constellation Puppis have been found to have Kuiper or Asteroid Belts, in the last 2 years, in one case the belt is 10 times more massive than ours and in the other case 25 times as massive (and it has 3 Neptune-sized planets as well).

So the saga as to whether the objects in those belts are now classified as planets or dwarf planets is yet to unfold. Clearly there are a lot of them and given the massive nature of the belts as a whole, larger ones are to be expected.

Answer 5

that is a very good question, 9 with Pluto but there is a large arguement to exclude Pluto so 8.

However if Pluto is kept then a how slue of new planets could be added, perhaps 100s. There are a lot of planetary objects that could be classified as planets if Pluto is one

Answer 6

Waaahaaaa! Pluto is not a planet anymore. I don't think this is fair. But I'll have to wait until I can get there personally with my tape measure, and maybe a few extra rocks to enlarge the place.

My husband is also upset with the ousting of Pluto. He liked it because it reminded him of Disney cartoons.

But, theoretically, we are now reduced to 8 planets.

Answer 7

9

Answer 8

There are 11 now, (In order) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Ceres, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Charon, Xena.
(Don't listen to every one else none of the above are dwarf Planets its been announced loads that there proper Planet.)

Answer 9

I'm sticking with 9! Declassifying Pluto leaves me, a Scorpio, without a ruling planet. Does that mean I don't exist now or that I'm just not going to be ruled anymore?

Answer 10

8 now. Pluto became a dwarf planet because it has not cleared its orbit of all debris, like that pesky planet Neptune.

Answer 11

8. Pluto is now no longer a planet and the sun is a star.