• Question: who named the planets?

    Asked by _.bxo to Monique on 11 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Monique Henson

      Monique Henson answered on 11 Nov 2015:

      Lots of different people. Most of the planets in our solar system have been known about for a really long time because you can see them without a telescope. If it’s a clear night then you can see them with your naked eye. The names we use for the planets now come from Roman gods, but I think the names of the Roman gods were heavily influenced by people who came before them (I’ll admit I don’t know too much about this).

      Neptune and Uranus were discovered quite a bit later than the other planets, but they were similarly named after Gods to keep to the theme. Unlike the other planets, Uranus is named after a Greek god, rather than a Roman god.

      When new planets are discovered now, the International Astronomical Union (a group of well known astronomers) decides on names for them.

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