Welcome to Planets.net

A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion in its core, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals

The term planet is an ancient one, with ties to history, science, myth and religion. The planets were originally seen as a divine presence; as emissaries of the gods. Even today, many people continue to believe the movement of the planets affects their lives, although such a causation is rejected by the scientific community. As scientific knowledge improved, the human perception of the planets changed over time, incorporating a number of disparate objects. Even now there is no uncontested definition of what a planet is. In 2006, the IAU officially adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar System. This definition has been both praised and criticised, and remains disputed by some scientists.

Since the dawn of the space age, close observation by probes has found that Earth and the other planets share characteristics such as volcanism, hurricanes, tectonics and even hydrology. Since 1992, and the discovery of hundreds of extrasolar planets, scientists are beginning to observe similar features across the galaxy.