![]() ![]() ![]() Otherwise, all of the newly found objects would have to be called planets as well. Such definition was needed to separate those types of objects like Pluto into a distinct class. Because of that, scientists gave a more detailed definition of a planet. In the 1990s and early 2000s, some objects similar in size to Pluto were discovered in the outer solar system. This discovery led some to question whether Pluto was actually a planet or some other type of object. They soon realized that it was much smaller than they had previously believed.Īt a tiny fraction of the mass of Mercury, Pluto was clearly a body much smaller than any other planet. When Pluto’s moon Charon was discovered in 1978, scientists were able to calculate Pluto’s mass much more accurately than ever before. Until that time a planet simply meant a body in orbit around the Sun, that reflected sunlight, and was not a planetary moon, asteroid, or comet. In fact, before 1978 the definition of a “planet” was not really necessary. This has not always been the case, though. The answer to this question is a highly controversial one. Then the different types of planets followed by all the planets in order from the sun outward. We will delve into each planet individually later in the post.įirst let’s take a look at what a planet is exactly. To kick off our post of planet facts, let’s take a quick look at the order of the planets, starting from the closest and then moving out to the furthest. ![]()
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