Planets

Planets are large rounded bodies held together by the gravity. For an astronomical object to be classified as a planet, it must meet the following requirements:

It must be in orbit around a Star.
It should have sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape.
It has to clear the neighborhood around its orbit.

Intricacies in the definition of the word planet has given rise to some interesting facts. For instance, Pluto was classified as a planet up until August of 2006, when the IAU reclassified it as a Dwarf Planet, due to it not being big enough to clear its orbit around the sun.

The Solar System as it stands, consists of 8 planets and 5 officially named dwarf planets.

The Main Planets

1.Mercury

Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system, and the nearest to the Sun.

2.Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and Earth's closest planetary neighbor.

3.Earth

Earth – our home planet – is the third planet from the Sun, and the fifth largest planet.

4.Mars

Mars – the fourth planet from the Sun – is a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere.

5.Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system – if it were a hollow shell, 1,000 Earths could fit inside.

6.Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, the second-largest planet in our solar system

7.Uranus

The seventh planet from the Sun, Uranus has the third largest diameter of planets in our solar system.

8.Neptune

Neptune is the eighth and most distant planet in our solar system.

The Drawf Planets

1. Pluto

Discovered in 1930, Pluto was long considered our solar system's ninth planet. But after the discovery of similar worlds deeper in the Kuiper Belt, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union.

2.Ceres

Dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and it's the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system.

3.Eris

The discovery of Eris helped trigger a debate in the scientific community that led to the decision to clarify the definition of a planet.

4.Haumea

Haumea was nicknamed Santa by one discovery team. It is oval-shaped, and is one of the fastest rotating large objects in our solar system.

5.Makemake

Makemake is slightly smaller than Pluto, and is the second-brightest object in the Kuiper Belt, while Pluto is the brightest.

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