Planets

Websites to support the study of the Planets

Planetary Science Research

http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/index.html

Provides the latest research on planets, meteorites, and other solar system bodies being made by various sources. Contains feature stories, news links, and a comprehensive archive of articles. Searchable.

Nine Planets: multimedia tour of solar system

http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html

Provides an overview of the history, mythology and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets and moons in our solar system. Includes text, images and multimedia.

The Planets

http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets

Features an extensive collection of images from NASA’s planetary exploration program. Includes brief planet profiles.

NASA’s planetary photojournal

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/

Features photographs of the planets and satellites in our solar system taken by a wide variety of space craft.

Mars News - The newswire for the new frontier

http://www.marsnews.com

Daily updates on the present, past, and future of Mars exploration. Includes sections on Mars missions, planetology, and the possibilities of life on the red planet.

Mars Global Surveyor

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/

Features lots of information and photographs of Mars, including archived mission data. Links to related sites.

Solar System Exploration: The Planets

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm

Provides facts and figures for each of the planets, the Sun, plus Earth’s moon. Includes the Kuiper belt and beyond the solar system. Links to technology and space exploration missions.

Resolutions 5 and 6: "Definition of Planet In the Solar System" and "Pluto"

http://www.iau.org

These two resolutions adopted in August 2006 at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) concern the definition of what is a planet and whether Pluto is a planet. Provides definitions for planets, dwarf planets, and "Small Solar System Bodies." The IAU resolved, "Pluto is a 'dwarf planet' ... and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of Trans-Neptunian Objects." Opens directly into a PDF file. (LII, 2007)

What Makes a Planet?

http://www.astro.cornell.edu/~jlm/planet.html

Brief introduction for the layperson about the definition of what is a planet and about the 2006 controversy about whether Pluto is a planet. This site notes "there are many things that make Pluto quite different from the [other eight] planets," so that it is "very hard to classify Pluto with the rest of the major planets." From a professor in the Department of Astronomy at Cornell University. (LII, 2007)