The question of how many planets in our solar system is a controversial one. It depends on several factors, including the size of the planets, their Hill radii and their distances from each other. Jupiter has a 300-fold greater mass than Earth, but its Hill radii is only about 10 times larger. So, if ten Earth orbits fit inside of Jupiter’s orbit, then there are only eight planets in our solar system. Making planets smaller can maximize the number of planets in the system.
Until the discovery of Ceres, scientists thought that there were seven planets in the solar system. They included Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. They were also called different names depending on their position in the sky. However, these planets were considered planets when they were discovered. However, scientists have not yet found proof that any of them have life. This is a contested debate that continues to cause much confusion.
The astronomical community is still in the process of finding evidence that proves that there are at least nine planets in our solar system. The first discovery was made in 1610, and it is based on observations from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile. The Atacama cosmology telescope found thousands of candidate sources but was unable to confirm any. Then, researchers began searching further. The discovery of the Kuiper Belt, which is the outer edge of our solar system, has sparked speculation about the existence of the mysterious Planet 9.
Pluto is another new discovery. Discovered in 1930, Pluto was the furthest planet from the Sun. Many astronomers debated its status as a planet. However, the International Astronomical Union eventually decided that Pluto should be categorized as a dwarf planet. The IAU has now designated Pluto and Eris as “dwarf planets.”
The next planet from the Sun is Venus. This planet has a thick atmosphere made of sulfuric acid. It is a perfect example of the greenhouse effect. Venus has a surface temperature of around 460degC. It spins slowly around the sun, so it takes 225 days to orbit the sun. Its surface is similar to Earth, and it takes only three times as long to orbit the sun as the Earth does.
The IAU’s definition of a planet is fairly strict. It must be a massive object in its primary orbit around the Sun, be round and free of any other objects that might be in its neighborhood. If one of these three criteria does not exist, then it is a dwarf planet. However, it may not exist at all. In fact, there are as many as a dozen planets in our solar system.
The smallest planet in our solar system, Mercury, makes its orbit around the sun in just 88 days. It is rocky, with an equatorial radius of 1,516 miles, and it has no atmosphere. Temperatures on Mercury fluctuate from 840 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to minus 275 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Since Mercury’s orbit is oval-shaped, the planet is sometimes visible to us from Earth.
