How many planets are there in the solar system today?

They are currently 9 the planets in the solar system, especially after, in 2006, Pluto was relegated as a dwarf planet and, therefore, ceased to be part of the list that until now had been taught in classes and schools. The solar system is where we humans live, as it is the part of the universe where the Earth is orbiting around of the Sun but, in addition to our planet, there are also seven more planets that revolve around the sun king, the star known as the Sun.

The planets that currently exist in the solar system are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. To better understand the universe and the galaxy in which we live, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to discover you how many planets are there in the solar system currently referring, also, to a finding made by a group of scientists who believe they have found the ninth planet in our system.

Let's get into the matter now to offer you a list of planets in the solar system that there is currently. We are going to order them

according to its proximity to the sun, that is, from closer to farther so that you know the order of the planets.

First of all we want to clarify that, as we have already said, Pluto is once again considered a planet. This happened in January 2020 when astronomers corrected the 2006 mistake in which they considered Pluto a dwarf planet.

That being said, if you want to know how many planets are there in the solar system we are going to discover that there are 9, Here are the names:

• Mercury
• Venus
• Land
• Mars
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune
• Pluto

Next we are going to delve slightly about these planets so that you know some of their main characteristics.

Planets of the solar system: characteristics

We are going to analyze each of the planets in the solar system, indicating some of the most outstanding characteristics of each of them. Attentive!

• Mercury: it is the planet that is closest to the Sun and, also, it is the smallest that we have in the entire solar system. In fact, its size is slightly larger than that of the Moon. Being so close to the star king, the area that is in contact with the rays is burned and, on the other hand, the face that is in the shadow gets very cold reaching the level of freezing.
• Venus: This is the planet most similar to Earth because it has a very similar size, as well as density and volume. The characteristic of this planet of the solar system is that it rotates in the opposite direction than the other planets.
• Land: it is the third planet in the solar system and our home. To date, it is the only planet known to have life and has a large portion of seas and oceans, which is why it is known as the "blue planet".
• Mars: Following this list of the planets in our solar system we arrive at Mars, which occupies the fourth place. Due to its color it has been baptized as the "red planet" and it shares some characteristics with our planet as it has valleys, mountains and frozen water.
• Jupiter: It is the largest planet in our system (it is considered to be 1000 times bigger than Earth) and, to a large extent, it is made up solely of gases such as helium or hydrogen. It has 12 moons orbiting it and has a ring system.
• Saturn: this planet is recognized by its rings (more than 10,000) made of rock and ice. It is also a planet essentially made up of gases.
• Uranus: it is a planet that has a very marked characteristic and that is that it orbits sideways something that makes the changes of seasons very extreme and that they last for a long time. It is the third largest planet in our solar system.
• Neptune: it is the planet that is farthest from the sun and, for this reason, its temperature is very cold.
• Pluto: it has a smaller diameter than the Moon, about 2,300 km and it is the planet farthest from the Sun. In 2006 it left this list because it was considered a dwarf planet but in 2020 it returned to this list when it was reclassified as a planet of the solar system.

Many people who want to know the planets of the solar system have doubts about Pluto. And it is that this planet has presented some controversies between scientists and astronomers around the world. In fact, in 2006 Pluto was removed from the list of planets because it was considered a "plutoid" and, therefore, not a planet. Up to now.

And it is that in January 2020 Pluto was put back on this list as the International Astronomical Union re-classified Pluto Pluto as a planet in the solar system. This planet is located after Neptune and has an eccentric and very inclined orbit. In addition, it is a planet that has five satellites named Charon, Nix, Hydra, Cerberus and Styx.

The reason for this reclassification of Pluto as a planet has had strong social motivation and it is that people were very attached to Pluto and scientists have decided to consider it again as a planet and not as a "plutoid". The clarification of Dr. Amy Joggy, president of the IAU, was the following:

"We just underestimate the public's attachment to Pluto. We realized our mistake shortly after the decision was made (…) We didn't think that no one would really care about this piece of rock and ice that is on the edge of the system solar. Clearly we were wrong and this makes me feel very sad. We have decided to correct the serious mistake made in the past. "

But this lesson would NOT be complete if we did not talk about an assumption new planet that was discovered in 2016. Therefore, if you want to know how many planets there are in the solar system currently, keep reading because this information interests you!

The planet that may be part of our system was discovered by a team of Caltech astronomers who found that, at the extremes of the system, there was a giant planet that orbits differently from the rest of the world. planets The name by which it is known so far is simple: Planet Nine.

This planet is considered to be ten times bigger than Earth and that twenty times farther from the Sun than Neptune, which we have just indicated is the planet that was the farthest away. This team of scientists calculate that this New Planet could take about 10,000 or 20,000 years to make a complete revolution of the Sun, given its remoteness.

Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown were the two astronomers who discovered this finding through different mathematical calculations and simulations, although it is true that even today it has not been seen in our firmament. This is the reason why we speak of a "supposed" planet since it has not yet been visible and is that the devices that we use to observe the sky does not have the ability to see an object as far away as it is believed to be this planet.