The planets of our solar system

Find out more about the fascinating celestial bodies that orbit the Sun.

Located in the Milky Way galaxy, the Sun and planets of our solar system formed together about 4.6 billion years ago. What is a planet? Definitions of the planets date at least as far back as the year 150, when Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy famously documented them. A more recent definition came in 2006, when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) said that a planet in our solar system must orbit the Sun, be large enough that gravity has shaped it into a sphere, and have no objects of similar size near its orbit. This description is not universally accepted, however. In July 2024, a group of scientists proposed a new standard, with stricter qualifications for size. The new definition, if accepted by the IAU, would classify more celestial bodies as…

You're reading a preview of

The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 252

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.