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Concept
Classical planet
Summary
A classical planet is an astronomical object that is visible to the naked eye and moves across the sky and its backdrop of fixed stars (the common stars which seem still in contrast to the planets). Visible to humans on Earth there are seven classical planets (the seven luminaries). They are from brightest to dimmest: the Sun, the Moon and the five star-like classical planets, the astra planeta (Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Saturn).
These classical planets were recorded during classical antiquity, introducing the term planet, which means originally "wanderer" in Greek (πλάνης planēs and πλανήτης planētēs), expressing the fact that these objects move across the celestial sphere relative to the fixed stars. Greek astronomers such as Geminus and Ptolemy often divided the seven planets into the Sun, the Moon, and the five star-like astra planeta.
Through the use of telescopes other celestial objects like the classical planets were found, starting with the Galilean moons in 1610. Today the term planet is used considerably differently, with a planet being defined as a natural satellite directly orbiting the Sun (or other stars) and having cleared its own orbit. Therefore only five of the seven classical planets remain recognized as planets, alongside Earth, Uranus and Neptune.
Babylonian astronomy
The Babylonians recognized seven planets. A bilingual list in the British Museum records the seven Babylonian planets in the following order:
The moon, Sin.
The sun, Shamash.
Jupiter, Merodach.
Venus, Ishtar.
Saturn, Ninip.
Mercury, Nebo.
Mars, Nergal.
Mandaean cosmology
In Mandaeism, the names of the seven planets are derived from the seven Babylonian planets. Overall, the seven classical planets (ࡔࡅࡁࡀ , "The Seven"; ࡔࡉࡁࡉࡀࡄࡉࡀ , "planets"; or, combined, "Seven Planets") are generally not viewed favorably in Mandaeism, since they constitute part of the entourage of Ruha, the Queen of the World of Darkness who is also their mother. However, individually, some of the planets can be associated with positive qualities.
Official source
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