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The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...
Proper names of planetary systems often follow common themes – for example, the planets of the star Copernicus are named after European astronomers. Proper names for planets outside of the Solar System – known as exoplanets – are chosen by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) through public naming contests known as NameExoWorlds.
Initially, the names given to minor planets followed the same pattern as the other planets: names from Greek or Roman myths, with a preference for female names. With the discovery in 1898 of the first body found to cross the orbit of Mars, a different choice was deemed appropriate, and 433 Eros was chosen.
For a list of planets as used in astrology, see: Planets in astrology; For a list of supposed planets not based on scientific evidence, see: Planetary objects proposed in religion, astrology, ufology and pseudoscience; For lists of planets in fiction, see: Fictional planets of the Solar System, Extrasolar planets in fiction § List, and List of ...
Counting them among the planets became increasingly cumbersome. Eventually, they were dropped from the planet list (as first suggested by Alexander von Humboldt in the early 1850s) and Herschel's coinage, "asteroids", gradually came into common use. [139] Since then, the region they occupy between Mars and Jupiter is known as the asteroid belt.
The first report of an exoplanet within this range was in 1998 for a planet orbiting around Gliese 876 (15.3 light-years (ly) away), and the latest as of 2024 is one around Struve 2398 A (11.5 ly). The closest exoplanets are those found orbiting the star closest to the Solar System, which is Proxima Centauri 4.25 light-years away.
Mission name Launch date Description Ref(s) Pioneer 5: 11 March 1960 Interplanetary space investigations [15] [16] Venera 1: 12 February 1961 First probe to another planet; Venus flyby (contact lost before flyby) [17] [18] [19] Vostok 1: 12 April 1961 First crewed Earth orbiter (Yuri Gagarin) [20] [21] Ranger 1: 23 August 1961
The list below concerns those minor planets in the specified number-range that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names. Official naming citations of newly named small Solar System bodies are approved and published in a bulletin by IAU's Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN). [ 1 ]