• Question: what was the first planet that was discovered?

    Asked by samschicken to Ed, Hayley, Jason, Nathan, Sophie on 13 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Edward Bovill

      Edward Bovill answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were all discovered by astronomers in Babylon in around 2000 BC. Originally, the Earth was thought to be the centre of the solar system with all the other planets and the Sun orbiting around us. In the 1500s, Copernicus discovered that the Sun was the centre of the solar system and the Earth and the other planets revolved around it instead.

      The other planets were discovered in this order:
      Uranus – 1781
      Neptune – 1846
      Pluto – 1930 though Pluto is no longer considered a planet as it is too small.

    • Photo: Jason King

      Jason King answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      Earth is a planet, so I would say that.

Comments