Question: how did the planets get there names?

Niamh Topping answered on 20 Oct 2025:

Ancient astronomers in Roman times named Mars, Venus, Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter as these were the names of Roman gods (and we kept these names even after Latin died out). The outer planets of Neptune, Uranus and Pluto (technically not a planet!) are named after Roman or Greek gods, but they weren’t discovered by the Romans or Greeks (much more powerful telescopes were needed) but the scientists who discovered these planets wanted to keep with the theme and convention of naming them after gods.