How many planets are in our Solar System?

The story behind the answer

Eight planets orbit the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union defined a planet as a body that orbits the Sun, is nearly round, and has cleared its orbital neighborhood. Pluto meets the first two criteria but not the third, so it was reclassified as a dwarf planet, reducing the official planet count to eight.

A handy way