Planets and Greek mythology

Which planet is named after a Greek god?
Planets named after gods

Greek Mythology Planets

Currently we have 8 planets in our universe (Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet), all named after gods. They are:

  1. Mercury – Roman name for Hermes
  2. Venus – Roman name for Aphrodite
  3. Earth – Closely associated with Roman Terra Mater (Gaia to Greeks which is why Gi is Earth in Greek)
  4. Mars – Roman name for Ares
    • Moons of Mars:
      • Deimos – Greek god terror
      • Phobos – Greek god of fear
  5. Jupiter – Roman name for Zeus
    • 79 moons mostly named after lovers or daughters of Zeus
  6. Saturn – Roman name for Cronus
  7. Uranus – The only planet that actually kept its original Greek name
  8. Neptune – Roman name for Poseidon
How the planets got their names from Greek and Roman mythology

If you want to learn more about space, astronomy, constellations and more, watch the videos on this page (or scroll on down to learn about dwarf-planets):

The dwarf planets (introduced in 2006) are mostly named after gods. They are:

  1. Ceres – Roman name for Demeter
  2. Eris – Greek goddess of discord
    • Moon Dysomnia was daughter of Eris in Greek myth
  3. Haumea – Hawaian mythology
  4. Makemake – Easter island mythology
  5. Pluto – Roman name for Hades
    • The moons of Pluto:
      1. Charon – Centaur from Greek mythology
      2. Nix – Greek goddess of the night
      3. Hydra – Greek mythological monster
      4. Styx – River to the Greek underworld
      5. Kerberos – 3-headed guard dog of Hades

More on rules for naming planets by International Astronomical Union.

We have a blog that deals with many topics related to mythology and we regularly discuss space travel. You can directly go to our Space Travel and Exploration blog category.

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