• Question: How large does a celestial body have to be to be classed as a planet? How large does a celestial body have to be to be classed as a dwarf planet?

    Asked by megan99raff to Alessandro, Angela, Claudia, Marina, Phil on 15 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Marina De Vos

      Marina De Vos answered on 15 Mar 2013:


      The definition of a planet was revised in 2006. According to NASA a celestial body is a planet when
      Is in orbit around a star, but is not itself a satellite*
      Has sufficient mass so it is nearly spherical in shape*
      Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit*

      So NASA did not specify an exact number.

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