Question: How did all the planets receive their names?
Asked by halle12 to Simon on 6 Sep 2012.
The planets in our Solar System are all named after Roman gods. The first five (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) have been named since ancient times, but Uranus, Neptune (and Pluto) were added later with the same theme.
Jupiter is the largest planet, so it was named after the King of the Gods.
Mars is the red planet, and red is associated with blood, so it is named after the God of War.
Venus is the Evening or Morning Star, and (I think) for this reason was named after the Goddess of Love.
Mercury is named after the Messenger of the Gods, although I'm not sure why.
Saturn is named after the God of Time, who is also the Father of Jupiter.
Uranus is named after a Greek god, the Father of Cronus, the Greek name for Saturn.
Neptune is named after the Roman God of the Sea, because of its bluish colour.
All of the moons of the planets are named after Greek Gods, except for Uranus, whose moons are named after female characters from the plays of Shakespeare.