Museo Galileo
italiano
Virtual Museum
In-depth
Planets
Planets

Celestial bodies rotating around a star, in particular the Sun. In ancient times, the word denoted all the "wandering bodies" that moved relative to the fixed stars. The planets shine with reflected light. In our solar system they comprise, in order of increasing distance from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.