Planet


A planet is a large astronomical body that is neither a star nor a stellar remnant. There are competing scientific definitions of a 'planet'. In the dynamicist definition adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a planet is a non-stellar body that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, that directly orbits a star, and that has cleared its orbital zone of competing objects. The IAU has also declared that there are eight planets in the Solar System, independently of the formal definition.[a][1][2] In the geological definition used by most planetologists, a planet is a rounded sub-stellar body, possibly a satellite. In addition to the eight Solar planets accepted by the IAU, these include dwarf planets such as Eris and Pluto and planetary-mass moons.[3] Bodies meeting the geological definition are sometimes called "planetary-mass objects" or "planemos" for short.

The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, astrology, science, mythology and religion. Apart from the Moon, five planets are visible to the naked eye in the night sky. Planets were regarded by many early cultures as emissaries of deities or as divine themselves. As scientific knowledge advanced, human perception of the planets changed, and the invention of the telescope enabled the discovery of additional planetary objects that were diverse in size, shape and orbit. In 2006, the IAU adopted a resolutionlimiting the number of planets within the Solar System, though they are not followed by all astronomers, especially planetologists. The IAU resolution is controversial because it excludes many geologically active planetary-mass objects due to where or what they orbit.

Ptolemy thought that the planets orbited Earth in deferent and epicycle motions. Although the idea that the planets orbited the Sun had been suggested before, it wasn't until the 17th century that this view was supported by the concrete evidence, in the form of telescopic observations performed by Galileo Galilei. About the same time, by careful analysis of pre-telescopic observational data collected by Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler discovered that the planets' orbits were elliptical rather than circular. As observational tools improved, astronomers saw that, like Earth, each of the planets rotated around an axis tilted with respect to its orbital pole, and that some shared such features as ice caps and seasons. Since the dawn of the Space Age, close observations by space probes have found that Earth and other planets share additional characteristics such as volcanism, hurricanes, tectonics and even hydrology.

The eight Solar planets in the IAU definition are divided into two divergent types: large low-density giant planets and small rocky terrestrial planets. In order of increasing distance from the Sun, they are the four terrestrials: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars; and the four giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Six are orbited by natural satellites, the two exceptions being the innermost planets Mercury and Venus. Under geophysical definitions, the classification is more complex: the Moon and Jupiter's moons Io and Europa[b] are additional terrestrial planets, but a large number of small icy planets are also added, such as the dwarf planets Ceres and Pluto and the other large giant-planet moons such as Ganymede, Callisto, and Titan.


Printed rendition of a geocentric cosmological model from Cosmographia, Antwerp, 1539
Euler diagram showing the types of bodies in the Solar System.
The planetary-mass moons compared in size with Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Pluto. Also included are Neptune's moons Proteus and Nereid, as they are similar in size to Saturn's smallest round moon Mimas, although Proteus is known not to be round and smaller Nereid is not expected to be round either.
The Greek gods of Olympus, after whom the Solar System's Roman names of the planets are derived
An artist's impression of protoplanetary disk
Asteroid collision - building planets (artist concept).
Supernova remnant ejecta producing planet-forming material.
Solar System – sizes but not distances are to scale
The Sun and the eight planets of the Solar System
The inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
The four giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune against the Sun and some sunspots
Comparison of the rotation period (sped up 10 000 times, negative values denoting retrograde), flattening and axial tilt of the planets and the Moon (SVG animation)
Exoplanets, by year of discovery, through September 2014.
Sizes of Kepler Planet Candidates – based on 2,740 candidates orbiting 2,036 stars as of 4 November 2013 (NASA).
The orbit of the planet Neptune compared to that of Pluto. Note the elongation of Pluto's orbit in relation to Neptune's (eccentricity), as well as its large angle to the ecliptic (inclination).
Illustration of the semi-major axis
Earth's axial tilt is about 23.4°. It oscillates between 22.1° and 24.5° on a 41,000-year cycle and is currently decreasing.
Illustration of the interior of Jupiter, with a rocky core overlaid by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen
Earth's atmosphere
Earth's magnetosphere (diagram)
The rings of Saturn