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Because new planets are discovered infrequently, the IAU did not have any mechanism for their definition and naming. After the discovery of Sedna, it set up a 19-member committee in 2005, with the British astronomer Iwan Williams in the chair, to consider the definition of a planet. It proposed three definitions that could be adopted: Cultural
As minor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by the IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC), and the discoverers can then submit names for them, following the IAU's naming conventions. The list below concerns those minor planets in the specified number-range that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names.
To found an authority on planetary nomenclature, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) was organized in 1919 to designate and standardize names for features on Solar System bodies. [2] The heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio, on Pluto, is named after the planet's discoverer Clyde Tombaugh.
As minor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by the IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC), and the discoverers can then submit names for them, following the IAU's naming conventions. The list below concerns those minor planets in the specified number-range that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names.
"Clearing the neighbourhood" is one of three necessary criteria for a celestial body to be considered a planet in the Solar System, according to the definition adopted in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). [1] In 2015, a proposal was made to extend the definition to exoplanets. [2]
The assessments of the IAU, Tancredi et al., Brown, and Grundy et al. for some of potential dwarf planets are as follows. For the IAU, the acceptance criteria were for naming purposes; Quaoar was called a dwarf planet in a 2022–2023 IAU annual report. [24]
The decision to give the planets new names followed the private company Uwingu's exoplanet naming contest, which the IAU harshly criticized. [15] Previously a few planets had received unofficial names: notably Osiris ( HD 209458 b ), Bellerophon ( 51 Pegasi b ), [ 16 ] and Methuselah ( PSR B1620-26 b ).
Planets whose orbits lie within the orbit of Earth. [nb 1] Mercury and Venus: Inner planet: A planet in the Solar System that have orbits smaller than the asteroid belt. [nb 2] Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars: Outer planet: A planet in the Solar System beyond the asteroid belt, and hence refers to the gas giants. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune ...