Planet

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This article is about the astronomical object. For other uses, see Planet (disambiguation).

The eight known planets of the Solar System

 The terrestrial planets

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

 The giant planets

Jupiter and Saturn (gas giants)

Uranus and Neptune (ice giants)

 Shown in order from the Sun and in true

color. Sizes are not to scale.

A planet is an astronomical body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to
be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and
has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.[a][1][2]
The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, astrology, science, mythology, and religion. Five
planets in the Solar System are visible to the naked eye. These were regarded by many early
cultures as divine, or as emissaries of deities. As scientific knowledge advanced, human perception
of the planets changed, incorporating a number of disparate objects. In 2006, the International
Astronomical Union (IAU) officially adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar System.
This definition is controversial because it excludes many objects of planetary mass based on where
or what they orbit. Although eight of the planetary bodies discovered before 1950 remain "planets"
under the modern definition, some celestial bodies, such as Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta (each an
object in the solar asteroid belt), and Pluto (the first trans-Neptunian object discovered), that were
once considered planets by the scientific community, are no longer viewed as such.
The planets were thought by Ptolemy to orbit Earth in deferent and epicycle motions. Although the
idea that the planets orbited the Sun had been suggested many times, it was not until the 17th
century that this view was supported by evidence from the first telescopic astronomical observations,
performed by Galileo Galilei. About the same time, by careful analysis of pre-telescopic
observational data collected by Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler found 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 some shared
such features as ice caps and seasons. Since the dawn of the Space Age, close observation
by space probes has found that Earth and the other planets share characteristics such
as volcanism, hurricanes, tectonics, and even hydrology.
Planets are generally divided into two main types: large low-density giant planets, and smaller
rocky terrestrials. There are eight planets in the Solar System.[1]In order of increasing distance from
the Sun, they are the four terrestrials, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, then the four giant
planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Six of the planets are orbited by one or more natural
satellites.
Several thousands of planets around other stars ("extrasolar planets" or "exoplanets") have been
discovered in the Milky Way. As of 1 May 2019, 4,058 known extrasolar planets in 3,033 planetary
systems (including 658 multiple planetary systems), ranging in size from just above the size of the
Moon to gas giantsabout twice as large as Jupiter have been discovered, out of which more than
100 planets are the same size as Earth, nine of which are at the same relative distance from their
star as Earth from the Sun, i.e. in the circumstellar habitable zone.[3][4] On December 20, 2011,
the Kepler Space Telescope team reported the discovery of the first Earth-sized extrasolar
planets, Kepler-20e[5] and Kepler-20f,[6] orbiting a Sun-like star, Kepler-20.[7][8][9] A 2012 study,
analyzing gravitational microlensing data, estimates an average of at least 1.6 bound planets for
every star in the Milky Way.[10] Around one in five Sun-like[b] stars is thought to have an Earth-
sized[c] planet in its habitable[d] zone.

Contents

 1History
o 1.1Babylon
 o 1.2Greco-Roman astronomy
o 1.3India
o 1.4Medieval Muslim astronomy
o 1.5European Renaissance
o 1.619th century
o 1.720th century
o 1.821st century
 1.8.1Extrasolar planets
 1.8.22006 IAU definition of planet
o 1.9Objects formerly considered planets
 2Mythology and naming
 3Formation
 4Solar System
o 4.1Planetary attributes
 5Exoplanets
 6Planetary-mass objects
o 6.1Dwarf planets
o 6.2Rogue planets
o 6.3Sub-brown dwarfs
o 6.4Former stars
o 6.5Satellite planets and belt planets
o 6.6Captured planets
 7Attributes
o 7.1Dynamic characteristics
 7.1.1Orbit
 7.1.2Axial tilt
 7.1.3Rotation
 7.1.4Orbital clearing
o 7.2Physical characteristics
 7.2.1Mass
 7.2.2Internal differentiation
 7.2.3Atmosphere
 7.2.4Magnetosphere
o 7.3Secondary characteristics
 8See also
 9Notes
 10References
 11External links

History
Further information: History of astronomy, Definition of planet, and Timeline of Solar System
astronomy
Printed rendition of a geocentric cosmological model from Cosmographia, Antwerp, 1539

The idea of planets has evolved over its history, from the divine lights of antiquity to the earthly
objects of the scientific age. The concept has expanded to include worlds not only in the Solar
System, but in hundreds of other extrasolar systems. The ambiguities inherent in defining planets
have led to much scientific controversy.
The five classical planets, being visible to the naked eye, have been known since ancient times and
have had a significant impact on mythology, religious cosmology, and ancient astronomy. In ancient
times, astronomers noted how certain lights moved across the sky, as opposed to the "fixed stars",
which maintained a constant relative position in the sky.[11] Ancient Greeks called these
lights πλάνητες ἀστέρες (planētes asteres, "wandering stars") or simply πλανῆται (planētai,
"wanderers"),[12]from which today's word "planet" was derived.[13][14][15] In ancient
Greece, China, Babylon, and indeed all pre-modern civilizations,[16][17] it was almost universally
believed that Earth was the center of the Universe and that all the "planets" circled Earth. The
reasons for this perception were that stars and planets appeared to revolve around Earth each
day[18] and the apparently common-sense perceptions that Earth was solid and stable and that it was
not moving but at rest.
Babylon
Main article: Babylonian astronomy
The first civilization known to have a functional theory of the planets were the Babylonians, who lived
in Mesopotamia in the first and second millennia BC. The oldest surviving planetary astronomical
text is the Babylonian Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa, a 7th-century BC copy of a list of observations
of the motions of the planet Venus, that probably dates as early as the second millennium
BC.[19] The MUL.APIN is a pair of cuneiform tablets dating from the 7th century BC that lays out the
motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets over the course of the year.[20] The Babylonian
astrologers also laid the foundations of what would eventually become Western
astrology.[21] The Enuma anu enlil, written during the Neo-Assyrian period in the 7th century
BC,[22] comprises a list of omens and their relationships with various celestial phenomena including
the motions of the planets.[23][24] Venus, Mercury, and the outer planets Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn were all identified by Babylonian astronomers. These would remain the only known
planets until the invention of the telescope in early modern times.[25]
Greco-Roman astronomy
See also: Greek astronomy

Ptolemy's 7 planetary spheres

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Moon Mercury Venus Sun Mars Jupiter Saturn

The ancient Greeks initially did not attach as much significance to the planets as the Babylonians.
The Pythagoreans, in the 6th and 5th centuries BC appear to have developed their own independent
planetary theory, which consisted of the Earth, Sun, Moon, and planets revolving around a "Central
Fire" at the center of the Universe. Pythagoras or Parmenides is said to have been the first to
identify the evening star (Hesperos) and morning star (Phosphoros) as one and the same
(Aphrodite, Greek corresponding to Latin Venus),[26] though this had long been known by the
Babylonians. In the 3rd century BC, Aristarchus of Samos proposed a heliocentric system, according
to which Earth and the planets revolved around the Sun. The geocentric system remained dominant
until the Scientific Revolution.
By the 1st century BC, during the Hellenistic period, the Greeks had begun to develop their own
mathematical schemes for predicting the positions of the planets. These schemes, which were
based on geometry rather than the arithmetic of the Babylonians, would eventually eclipse the
Babylonians' theories in complexity and comprehensiveness, and account for most of the
astronomical movements observed from Earth with the naked eye. These theories would reach their
fullest expression in the Almagest written by Ptolemy in the 2nd century CE. So complete was the
domination of Ptolemy's model that it superseded all previous works on astronomy and remained the
definitive astronomical text in the Western world for 13 centuries.[19][27] To the Greeks and Romans
there were seven known planets, each presumed to be circling Earth according to the complex laws
laid out by Ptolemy. They were, in increasing order from Earth (in Ptolemy's order and using modern
names): the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.[15][27][28]
Cicero, in his De Natura Deorum, enumerated the planets known during the 1st century BCE using
the names for them in use at the time:[29]
"But there is most matter for wonder in the movements of the five stars which are falsely
called wandering; falsely, because nothing wanders which through all eternity preserves its
forward and retrograde courses, and its other movements, constant and unaltered. ... For
instance, the star which is farthest from the earth, which is known as the star of Saturn, and
is called by the Greeks Φαέθων (Phainon), accomplishes its course in about thirty years, and
though in that course it does much that is wonderful, first preceding the sun, and then falling
off in speed, becoming invisible at the hour of evening, and returning to view in the morning,
it never through the unending ages of time makes any variation, but performs the same
movements at the same times. Beneath it, and nearer to the earth, moves the planet of
Jupiter, which is called in Greek Φαέθων (Phaethon); it completes the same round of the
twelve signs in twelve years, and performs in its course the same variations as the planet of
Saturn. The circle next below it is held by Πυρόεις (Pyroeis), which is called the planet of
Mars, and traverses the same round as the two planets above it in four and twenty months,
all but, I think, six days. Beneath this is the planet of Mercury, which is called by the Greeks
Στίλβων (Stilbon); it traverses the round of the zodiac in about the time of the year’s
revolution, and never withdraws more than one sign’s distance from the sun, moving at one
time in advance of it, and at another in its rear. The lowest of the five wandering stars, and
the one nearest the earth, is the planet of Venus, which is called Φωσϕόρος (Phosphoros) in
Greek, and Lucifer in Latin, when it is preceding the sun, but Ἕσπερος (Hesperos) when it is
following it; it completes its course in a year, traversing the zodiac both latitudinally and
longitudinally, as is also done by the planets above it, and on whichever side of the sun it is,
it never departs more than two signs’ distance from it."
India
Main articles: Indian astronomy and Hindu cosmology
In 499 CE, the Indian astronomer Aryabhata propounded a planetary model that explicitly
incorporated Earth's rotation about its axis, which he explains as the cause of what appears to
be an apparent westward motion of the stars. He also believed that the orbits of planets
are elliptical.[30] Aryabhata's followers were particularly strong in South India, where his principles
of the diurnal rotation of Earth, among others, were followed and a number of secondary works
were based on them.[31]
In 1500, Nilakantha Somayaji of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics, in
his Tantrasangraha, revised Aryabhata's model.[32] In his Aryabhatiyabhasya, a commentary on
Aryabhata's Aryabhatiya, he developed a planetary model where Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter
and Saturn orbit the Sun, which in turn orbits Earth, similar to the Tychonic system later
proposed by Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century. Most astronomers of the Kerala school who
followed him accepted his planetary model.[32][33]
Medieval Muslim astronomy
Main articles: Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world and Cosmology in medieval Islam
In the 11th century, the transit of Venus was observed by Avicenna, who established
that Venus was, at least sometimes, below the Sun.[34] In the 12th century, Ibn Bajjah observed
"two planets as black spots on the face of the Sun", which was later identified as a transit of
Mercury and Venus by the Maragha astronomer Qotb al-Din Shirazi in the 13th century.[35] Ibn
Bajjah could not have observed a transit of Venus, because none occurred in his lifetime.[36]
European Renaissance
Renaissance planets,
c. 1543 to 1610 and c. 1680 to 1781

1 2 3 4 5 6
Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn

See also: Heliocentrism

With the advent of the Scientific Revolution, use of the term "planet" changed from something
that moved across the sky (in relation to the star field); to a body that orbited Earth (or that was
believed to do so at the time); and by the 18th century to something that directly orbited the Sun
when the heliocentric model of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler gained sway.
Thus, Earth became included in the list of planets,[37] whereas the Sun and Moon were excluded.
At first, when the first satellites of Jupiter and Saturn were discovered in the 17th century, the
terms "planet" and "satellite" were used interchangeably – although the latter would gradually
become more prevalent in the following century.[38] Until the mid-19th century, the number of
"planets" rose rapidly because any newly discovered object directly orbiting the Sun was listed
as a planet by the scientific community.
19th century
Eleven planets, 1807–1845

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Mercury Venus Earth Mars Vesta Juno Ceres Pallas Jupiter Saturn Uranus

In the 19th century astronomers began to realize that recently discovered bodies that had been
classified as planets for almost half a century (such as Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta) were
very different from the traditional ones. These bodies shared the same region of space between
Mars and Jupiter (the asteroid belt), and had a much smaller mass; as a result they were
reclassified as "asteroids". In the absence of any formal definition, a "planet" came to be
understood as any "large" body that orbited the Sun. Because there was a dramatic size gap
between the asteroids and the planets, and the spate of new discoveries seemed to have ended
after the discovery of Neptune in 1846, there was no apparent need to have a formal
definition.[39]
20th century
Planets 1854–1930, Solar planets 2006–present

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

In the 20th century, Pluto was discovered. After initial observations led to the belief that it was
larger than Earth,[40] the object was immediately accepted as the ninth planet. Further monitoring
found the body was actually much smaller: in 1936, Ray Lyttleton suggested that Pluto may be
an escaped satellite of Neptune,[41] and Fred Whipple suggested in 1964 that Pluto may be a
comet.[42] As it was still larger than all known asteroids and seemingly did not exist within a larger
population,[43] it kept its status until 2006.

(Solar) planets 1930–2006

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto

In 1992, astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the discovery of planets
around a pulsar, PSR B1257+12.[44]This discovery is generally considered to be the first
definitive detection of a planetary system around another star. Then, on October 6, 1995, Michel
Mayor and Didier Queloz of the Geneva Observatory announced the first definitive detection of
an exoplanet orbiting an ordinary main-sequence star (51 Pegasi).[45]
The discovery of extrasolar planets led to another ambiguity in defining a planet: the point at
which a planet becomes a star. Many known extrasolar planets are many times the mass of
Jupiter, approaching that of stellar objects known as brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are generally
considered stars due to their ability to fuse deuterium, a heavier isotope of hydrogen. Although
objects more massive than 75 times that of Jupiter fuse hydrogen, objects of only 13 Jupiter
masses can fuse deuterium. Deuterium is quite rare, and most brown dwarfs would have ceased
fusing deuterium long before their discovery, making them effectively indistinguishable from
supermassive planets.[46]
21st century
With the discovery during the latter half of the 20th century of more objects within the Solar
System and large objects around other stars, disputes arose over what should constitute a
planet. There were particular disagreements over whether an object should be considered a
planet if it was part of a distinct population such as a belt, or if it was large enough to generate
energy by the thermonuclear fusion of deuterium.
A growing number of astronomers argued for Pluto to be declassified as a planet, because many
similar objects approaching its size had been found in the same region of the Solar System
(the Kuiper belt) during the 1990s and early 2000s. Pluto was found to be just one small body in
a population of thousands.
Some of them, such as Quaoar, Sedna, and Eris, were heralded in the popular press as
the tenth planet, failing to receive widespread scientific recognition. The announcement of Eris in
2005, an object then thought of as 27% more massive than Pluto, created the necessity and
public desire for an official definition of a planet.
Acknowledging the problem, the IAU set about creating the definition of planet, and produced
one in August 2006. The number of planets dropped to the eight significantly larger bodies that
had cleared their orbit (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune), and
a new class of dwarf planets was created, initially containing three objects (Ceres, Pluto and
Eris).[47]
Extrasolar planets
There is no official definition of extrasolar planets. In 2003, the International Astronomical
Union (IAU) Working Group on Extrasolar Planets issued a position statement, but this position
statement was never proposed as an official IAU resolution and was never voted on by IAU
members. The positions statement incorporates the following guidelines, mostly focused upon
the boundary between planets and brown dwarfs:[2]

1. Objects with true masses below the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion of deuterium
(currently calculated to be 13 times the mass of Jupiter for objects with the
same isotopic abundance as the Sun[48]) that orbit stars or stellar remnants are "planets"
(no matter how they formed). The minimum mass and size required for an extrasolar
object to be considered a planet should be the same as that used in the Solar System.
2. Substellar objects with true masses above the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion of
deuterium are "brown dwarfs", no matter how they formed or where they are located.
3. Free-floating objects in young star clusters with masses below the limiting mass for
thermonuclear fusion of deuterium are not "planets", but are "sub-brown dwarfs" (or
whatever name is most appropriate).
This working definition has since been widely used by astronomers when publishing discoveries
of exoplanets in academic journals.[49] Although temporary, it remains an effective working
definition until a more permanent one is formally adopted. It does not address the dispute over
the lower mass limit,[50] and so it steered clear of the controversy regarding objects within the
Solar System. This definition also makes no comment on the planetary status of objects orbiting
brown dwarfs, such as 2M1207b.
One definition of a sub-brown dwarf is a planet-mass object that formed through cloud
collapse rather than accretion. This formation distinction between a sub-brown dwarf and a
planet is not universally agreed upon; astronomers are divided into two camps as whether to
consider the formation process of a planet as part of its division in classification.[51] One reason
for the dissent is that often it may not be possible to determine the formation process. For
example, a planet formed by accretion around a star may get ejected from the system to
become free-floating, and likewise a sub-brown dwarf that formed on its own in a star cluster
through cloud collapse may get captured into orbit around a star.
The 13 Jupiter-mass cutoff represents an average mass rather than a precise threshold value.
Large objects will fuse most of their deuterium and smaller ones will fuse only a little, and the
13 MJ value is somewhere in between. In fact, calculations show that an object fuses 50% of its
initial deuterium content when the total mass ranges between 12 and 14 MJ.[52] The amount of
deuterium fused depends not only on mass but also on the composition of the object, on the
amount of helium and deuterium present.[53] The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia includes
objects up to 25 Jupiter masses, saying, "The fact that there is no special feature around
13 MJ in the observed mass spectrum reinforces the choice to forget this mass
limit."[54] The Exoplanet Data Explorer includes objects up to 24 Jupiter masses with the advisory:
"The 13 Jupiter-mass distinction by the IAU Working Group is physically unmotivated for planets
with rocky cores, and observationally problematic due to the sin i ambiguity."[55] The NASA
Exoplanet Archive includes objects with a mass (or minimum mass) equal to or less than 30
Jupiter masses.[56]
Another criterion for separating planets and brown dwarfs, rather than deuterium fusion,
formation process or location, is whether the core pressure is dominated by coulomb
pressure or electron degeneracy pressure.[57][58]
2006 IAU definition of planet
Main article: IAU definition of planet

Euler diagram showing the types of bodies in the Solar System.

The matter of the lower limit was addressed during the 2006 meeting of the IAU's General
Assembly. After much debate and one failed proposal, a large majority of those remaining at the
meeting voted to pass a resolution. The 2006 resolution defines planets within the Solar System
as follows:[1]
A "planet" [1] is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its
self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly
round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
[1] The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Under this definition, the Solar System is considered to have eight planets. Bodies that fulfill the
first two conditions but not the third (such as Ceres, Pluto, and Eris) are classified as dwarf
planets, provided they are not also natural satellites of other planets. Originally an IAU
committee had proposed a definition that would have included a much larger number of planets
as it did not include (c) as a criterion.[59] After much discussion, it was decided via a vote that
those bodies should instead be classified as dwarf planets.[60]
This definition is based in theories of planetary formation, in which planetary embryos initially
clear their orbital neighborhood of other smaller objects. As described by astronomer Steven
Soter:[61]
"The end product of secondary disk accretion is a small number of relatively large bodies
(planets) in either non-intersecting or resonant orbits, which prevent collisions between them.
Minor planets and comets, including KBOs [Kuiper belt objects], differ from planets in that
they can collide with each other and with planets."
The 2006 IAU definition presents some challenges for exoplanets because the language is
specific to the Solar System and because the criteria of roundness and orbital zone
clearance are not presently observable. Astronomer Jean-Luc Margot proposed a
mathematical criterion that determines whether an object can clear its orbit during the
lifetime of its host star, based on the mass of the planet, its semimajor axis, and the mass of
its host star.[62][63] This formula produces a value π that is greater than 1 for planets. The
eight known planets and all known exoplanets have π values above 100, while Ceres, Pluto,
and Eris have π values of 0.1 or less. Objects with π values of 1 or more are also expected
to be approximately spherical, so that objects that fulfill the orbital zone clearance
requirement automatically fulfill the roundness requirement.[64]
Objects formerly considered planets
The table below lists Solar System bodies once considered to be planets.

Current
Body classificat Notes
ion

Sun Star Classified

as classical
planets (Ancient
Greek πλανῆται,
wanderers)
in classical
antiquity and med
Natural ieval Europe, in
Moon
satellite accordance with
the now-
disproved geocen
tric model.[65]

The four largest

moons of Jupiter,
known as
the Galilean
moons after their
discoverer Galile
Natural
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto o Galilei. He
satellites
referred to them
as the "Medicean
Planets" in honor
of his patron,
the Medici
family. They
were known
 as secondary
planets.[66]

Five of Saturn's
larger moons,
discovered
by Christiaan
Huygens and Gio
Natural vanni Domenico
Titan,[e] Iapetus,[f] Rhea,[f] Tethys,[g] and Dione[g]
satellites Cassini. As with
Jupiter's major
moons, they
were known as
secondary
planets.[66]

Pallas, Juno, and Vesta Asteroids Regarded as

planets from their
discoveries
between 1801
and 1807 until
they were
reclassified as
asteroids during
Dwarf
the 1850s.[68]
Ceres planet and
asteroid
Ceres was
subsequently
classified as
a dwarf planet in
2006.

More asteroids,
discovered
between 1845
and 1851. The
rapidly
expanding list of
Astraea, Hebe, Iris, Flora, Metis, Hygiea, Parthenope, Victoria, E bodies between
Asteroids
geria, Irene, Eunomia Mars and Jupiter
prompted their
reclassification
as asteroids,
which was
widely accepted
by 1854.[69]
Dwarf The first
Pluto planet known trans-
and Kuipe Neptunian
 r object (i.e. minor
belt object planet with
a semi-major
axis beyond Nept
une). Regarded
as a planet from
its discovery in
1930 until it was
reclassified as a
dwarf planet in
2006.

Beyond the scientific community, Pluto still holds cultural significance for many in the
general public due to its historical classification as a planet from 1930 to 2006.[70] A few
astronomers, such as Alan Stern, consider dwarf planets and the larger moons to be
planets, based on a purely geophysical definition of planet.[71]

Mythology and naming

See also: Weekday names and Naked-eye planet

The Greek gods of Olympus, after whom the Solar System's Roman names of the planets are
derived

The names for the planets in the Western world are derived from the naming practices of the
Romans, which ultimately derive from those of the Greeks and the Babylonians. In ancient
Greece, the two great luminaries the Sun and the Moon were called Helios and Selene; the
farthest planet (Saturn) was called Phainon, the shiner; followed by Phaethon (Jupiter),
"bright"; the red planet (Mars) was known as Pyroeis, the "fiery"; the brightest (Venus) was
known as Phosphoros, the light bringer; and the fleeting final planet (Mercury) was
called Stilbon, the gleamer. The Greeks also made each planet sacred to one among their
pantheon of gods, the Olympians: Helios and Selene were the names of both planets and
gods; Phainon was sacred to Cronus, the Titan who fathered the Olympians; Phaethon was
sacred to Zeus, Cronus's son who deposed him as king; Pyroeis was given to Ares, son of
Zeus and god of war; Phosphoros was ruled by Aphrodite, the goddess of love;
and Hermes, messenger of the gods and god of learning and wit, ruled over Stilbon.[19]
The Greek practice of grafting their gods' names onto the planets was almost certainly
borrowed from the Babylonians. The Babylonians named Phosphoros after their goddess of
love, Ishtar; Pyroeis after their god of war, Nergal, Stilbon after their god of wisdom Nabu,
and Phaethon after their chief god, Marduk.[72] There are too many concordances between
Greek and Babylonian naming conventions for them to have arisen separately.[19] The
translation was not perfect. For instance, the Babylonian Nergal was a god of war, and thus
the Greeks identified him with Ares. Unlike Ares, Nergal was also god of pestilence and the
underworld.[73]
Today, most people in the western world know the planets by names derived from the
Olympian pantheon of gods. Although modern Greeks still use their ancient names for the
planets, other European languages, because of the influence of the Roman Empire and,
later, the Catholic Church, use the Roman (Latin) names rather than the Greek ones. The
Romans, who, like the Greeks, were Indo-Europeans, shared with them a common
pantheon under different names but lacked the rich narrative traditions that Greek poetic
culture had given their gods. During the later period of the Roman Republic, Roman writers
borrowed much of the Greek narratives and applied them to their own pantheon, to the point
where they became virtually indistinguishable.[74] When the Romans studied Greek
astronomy, they gave the planets their own gods' names: Mercurius (for
Hermes), Venus (Aphrodite), Mars (Ares), Iuppiter (Zeus) and Saturnus (Cronus). When
subsequent planets were discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries, the naming practice
was retained with Neptūnus (Poseidon). Uranus is unique in that it is named for a Greek
deity rather than his Roman counterpart.
Some Romans, following a belief possibly originating in Mesopotamia but developed
in Hellenistic Egypt, believed that the seven gods after whom the planets were named took
hourly shifts in looking after affairs on Earth. The order of shifts went Saturn, Jupiter, Mars,
Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon (from the farthest to the closest planet).[75] Therefore, the first
day was started by Saturn (1st hour), second day by Sun (25th hour), followed by Moon
(49th hour), Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus. Because each day was named by the god
that started it, this is also the order of the days of the week in the Roman calendarafter
the Nundinal cycle was rejected – and still preserved in many modern languages.[76] In
English, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are straightforward translations of these Roman
names. The other days were renamed
after Tiw (Tuesday), Wóden (Wednesday), Thunor (Thursday), and Fríge (Friday),
the Anglo-Saxon gods considered similar or equivalent to Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and
Venus, respectively.
Earth is the only planet whose name in English is not derived from Greco-Roman mythology.
Because it was only generally accepted as a planet in the 17th century,[37] there is no
tradition of naming it after a god. (The same is true, in English at least, of the Sun and the
Moon, though they are no longer generally considered planets.) The name originates from
the 8th century Anglo-Saxon word erda, which means ground or soil and was first used in
writing as the name of the sphere of Earth perhaps around 1300.[77][78] As with its equivalents
in the other Germanic languages, it derives ultimately from the Proto-Germanicword ertho,
"ground",[78] as can be seen in the English earth, the German Erde, the Dutch aarde, and the
Scandinavian jord. Many of the Romance languages retain the old Roman word terra (or
some variation of it) that was used with the meaning of "dry land" as opposed to
"sea".[79] The non-Romance languages use their own native words. The Greeks retain their
original name, Γή (Ge).
Non-European cultures use other planetary-naming systems. India uses a system based on
the Navagraha, which incorporates the seven traditional planets (Surya for the
Sun, Chandra for the Moon, and Budha, Shukra, Mangala, Bṛhaspati and Shani for Mercury,
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) and the ascending and descending lunar
nodes Rahu and Ketu. China and the countries of eastern Asia historically subject
to Chinese cultural influence (such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam) use a naming system
based on the five Chinese
elements: water (Mercury), metal (Venus), fire (Mars), wood (Jupiter) and earth(Saturn).[76] In
traditional Hebrew astronomy, the seven traditional planets have (for the most part)
descriptive names - the Sun is ‫ חמה‬Ḥammah or "the hot one," the Moon is ‫ לבנה‬Levanah or
"the white one," Venus is ‫ כוכב נוגה‬Kokhav Nogah or "the bright planet," Mercury is
‫ כוכב‬Kokhav or "the planet" (given its lack of distinguishing features), Mars is
‫ מאדים‬Ma'adim or "the red one," and Saturn is ‫ שבתאי‬Shabbatai or "the resting one" (in
reference to its slow movement compared to the other visible planets).[80] The odd one out is
Jupiter, called ‫ צדק‬Tzedeq or "justice." Steiglitz suggests that this may be a euphemism for
the original name of ‫ כוכב בעל‬Kokhav Ba'al or "Baal's planet," seen as idolatrous and
euphemized in a similar manner to Ishbosheth from II Samuel.[80]
In Arabic, Mercury is ‫ارد‬ َ ‫ع‬
ِ ‫ط‬ ُ (ʿUṭārid, cognate with Ishtar/Astarte), Venus is ‫( الزهرة‬az-Zuhara,
"the bright one", an epithet of the goddess Al-'Uzzá[82]), Earth is ‫( األرض‬al-ʾArḍ, from the
[81]

same root as eretz), Mars is ‫( ا َ ْلمِ ِ ِّريخ‬al-Mirrīkh, meaning "featherless arrow" due to
its retrograde motion[83]), Jupiter is ‫( المشتري‬al-Muštarī, "the reliable one", from Akkadian[84])
and Saturn is ‫( ُز َحل‬Zuḥal, "withdrawer"[85]).[86][87]

Formation
Main article: Nebular hypothesis

An artist's impression of protoplanetary disk

It is not known with certainty how planets are formed. The prevailing theory is that they are
formed during the collapse of a nebula into a thin disk of gas and dust. A protostar forms at
the core, surrounded by a rotating protoplanetary disk. Through accretion (a process of
sticky collision) dust particles in the disk steadily accumulate mass to form ever-larger
bodies. Local concentrations of mass known as planetesimals form, and these accelerate
the accretion process by drawing in additional material by their gravitational attraction.
These concentrations become ever denser until they collapse inward under gravity to
form protoplanets.[88] After a planet reaches a mass somewhat larger than Mars' mass, it
begins to accumulate an extended atmosphere,[89] greatly increasing the capture rate of the
planetesimals by means of atmospheric drag.[90][91] Depending on the accretion history of
solids and gas, a giant planet, an ice giant, or a terrestrial planet may result.[92][93][94]
 Asteroid collision - building planets (artist concept).

When the protostar has grown such that it ignites to form a star, the surviving disk is
removed from the inside outward by photoevaporation, the solar wind, Poynting–Robertson
drag and other effects.[95][96]Thereafter there still may be many protoplanets orbiting the star
or each other, but over time many will collide, either to form a single larger planet or release
material for other larger protoplanets or planets to absorb.[97] Those objects that have
become massive enough will capture most matter in their orbital neighbourhoods to become
planets. Protoplanets that have avoided collisions may become natural satellites of planets
through a process of gravitational capture, or remain in belts of other objects to become
either dwarf planets or small bodies.
The energetic impacts of the smaller planetesimals (as well as radioactive decay) will heat
up the growing planet, causing it to at least partially melt. The interior of the planet begins to
differentiate by mass, developing a denser core.[98] Smaller terrestrial planets lose most of
their atmospheres because of this accretion, but the lost gases can be replaced by
outgassing from the mantle and from the subsequent impact of comets.[99] (Smaller planets
will lose any atmosphere they gain through various escape mechanisms.)
With the discovery and observation of planetary systems around stars other than the Sun, it
is becoming possible to elaborate, revise or even replace this account. The level
of metallicity—an astronomical term describing the abundance of chemical elements with
an atomic number greater than 2 (helium)—is now thought to determine the likelihood that a
star will have planets.[100] Hence, it is thought that a metal-rich population I star will likely
have a more substantial planetary system than a metal-poor, population II star.
 Supernova remnant ejecta producing planet-forming material.

Solar System
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

Main article: Solar System

See also: List of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System
There are eight planets in the Solar System, which are in increasing distance from the Sun:

1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
5. Jupiter
6. Saturn
7. Uranus
8. Neptune
Jupiter is the largest, at 318 Earth masses, whereas Mercury is the smallest, at 0.055 Earth
masses.
The planets of the Solar System can be divided into categories based on their composition:

 Terrestrials: Planets that are similar to Earth, with bodies largely composed of rock:
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. At 0.055 Earth masses, Mercury is the smallest
terrestrial planet (and smallest planet) in the Solar System. Earth is the largest terrestrial
planet.
 Giant planets (Jovians): Massive planets significantly more massive than the
terrestrials: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
o Gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, are giant planets primarily composed of hydrogen
and helium and are the most massive planets in the Solar System. Jupiter, at 318
Earth masses, is the largest planet in the Solar System, and Saturn is one third as
massive, at 95 Earth masses.
 o Ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, are primarily composed of low-boiling-point
materials such as water, methane, and ammonia, with thick atmospheres of
hydrogen and helium. They have a significantly lower mass than the gas giants
(only 14 and 17 Earth masses).
Planetary attributes

Incl
Or
Se inat Ro
Equ bit A
mi- ion Orb tati Con
ator al xi
M maj to ital on firm Ri Atm
Na ial per al
as or Sun ecce per ed n osph
me dia iod til
s [h] axis 's ntri iod moo gs ere
met (ye t(
(A equ city (da ns [i]
er [h] ars °)
U) ator ys)
) [h]
(°)

Me
mini
1. rcu 0.382 0.06 0.39 0.24 3.38 0.206 58.64 0 0.04 no
mal
ry

Ve −243. 177. CO2,

2. 0.949 0.82 0.72 0.62 3.86 0.007 0 no
nus 02 36 N2

Ear N 2,
23.4
3. th (a 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 7.25 0.017 1.00 1 no O 2,
) 4
Ar

CO2,
Ma 25.1
4. 0.532 0.11 1.52 1.88 5.65 0.093 1.03 2 no N2,
rs 9
Ar

Jup ye H 2,
5. 11.209 317.8 5.20 11.86 6.09 0.048 0.41 79 3.13
iter s He

Sat 26.7 ye H2,

6. 9.449 95.2 9.54 29.46 5.51 0.054 0.43 62
urn 3 s He

Ur H2,
97.7 ye
7. an 4.007 14.6 19.22 84.01 6.48 0.047 −0.72 27 He,
7 s
us CH4
 Incl
Or
Se inat Ro
Equ bit A
mi- ion Orb tati Con
ator al xi
M maj to ital on firm Ri Atm
Na ial per al
as or Sun ecce per ed n osph
me dia iod til
s [h] axis 's ntri iod moo gs ere
met (ye t(
(A equ city (da ns [i]
er [h] ars °)
U) ator ys)
) [h]
(°)

Ne H2,
28.3 ye
8. ptu 3.883 17.2 30.06 164.8 6.43 0.009 0.67 14 He,
2 s
ne CH4

Color legend: terrestrial planets gas giants ice giants (both are giant planets). (a) Find
absolute values in article Earth

Exoplanets
Main article: Exoplanet

Exoplanets, by year of discovery, through September 2014.

An exoplanet (extrasolar planet) is a planet outside the Solar System. As of 1 May 2019,
there are 4,058 confirmed planets in 3,033 systems, with 658 systems having more than
one planet.[102][103][104][105]
In early 1992, radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the
discovery of two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12.[44] This discovery was confirmed,
and is generally considered to be the first definitive detection of exoplanets. These pulsar
planets are believed to have formed from the unusual remnants of the supernova that
produced the pulsar, in a second round of planet formation, or else to be the remaining
rocky cores of giant planets that survived the supernova and then decayed into their current
orbits.
 Sizes of Kepler Planet Candidates – based on 2,740 candidates orbiting 2,036 stars as of
4 November 2013 (NASA).

The first confirmed discovery of an extrasolar planet orbiting an ordinary main-sequence star
occurred on 6 October 1995, when Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of the University of
Geneva announced the detection of an exoplanet around 51 Pegasi. From then until
the Kepler mission most known extrasolar planets were gas giants comparable in mass to
Jupiter or larger as they were more easily detected. The catalog of Kepler candidate planets
consists mostly of planets the size of Neptune and smaller, down to smaller than Mercury.
There are types of planets that do not exist in the Solar System: super-Earths and mini-
Neptunes, which could be rocky like Earth or a mixture of volatiles and gas like Neptune—a
radius of 1.75 times that of Earth is a possible dividing line between the two types of
planet.[106] There are hot Jupiters that orbit very close to their star and may evaporate to
become chthonian planets, which are the leftover cores. Another possible type of planet
is carbon planets, which form in systems with a higher proportion of carbon than in the Solar
System.
A 2012 study, analyzing gravitational microlensing data, estimates an average of at least 1.6
bound planets for every star in the Milky Way.[10]
On December 20, 2011, the Kepler Space Telescope team reported the discovery of the
first Earth-size exoplanets, Kepler-20e[5] and Kepler-20f,[6] orbiting a Sun-like star, Kepler-
20.[7][8][9]
Around 1 in 5 Sun-like[b] stars have an "Earth-sized"[c] planet in the habitable[d] zone, so the
nearest would be expected to be within 12 light-years distance from Earth.[107][108] The
frequency of occurrence of such terrestrial planets is one of the variables in the Drake
equation, which estimates the number of intelligent, communicating civilizations that exist in
the Milky Way.[109]
There are exoplanets that are much closer to their parent star than any planet in the Solar
System is to the Sun, and there are also exoplanets that are much farther from their
star. Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun at 0.4 AU, takes 88 days for an orbit, but the
shortest known orbits for exoplanets take only a few hours, e.g. Kepler-70b. The Kepler-
11 system has five of its planets in shorter orbits than Mercury's, all of them much more
massive than Mercury. Neptune is 30 AU from the Sun and takes 165 years to orbit, but
there are exoplanets that are hundreds of AU from their star and take more than a thousand
years to orbit, e.g. 1RXS1609 b.
The next few space telescopes to study exoplanets are expected to be Gaia launched in
December 2013, CHEOPS in 2018, TESS in 2018, and the James Webb Space
Telescope in 2021.

Planetary-mass objects

The dwarf planet Pluto

Artist's impression of a super-Jupiter around the brown dwarf 2M1207.[110]

See also: List of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System

A planetary-mass object (PMO), planemo,[111] or planetary body is a celestial object with
a mass that falls within the range of the definition of a planet: massive enough to achieve
hydrostatic equilibrium (to be rounded under its own gravity), but not enough to sustain core
fusion like a star.[112][113] By definition, all planets are planetary-mass objects, but the purpose
of this term is to refer to objects that do not conform to typical expectations for a planet.
These include dwarf planets, which are rounded by their own gravity but not massive
enough to clear their own orbit, the larger moons, and free-floating planemos, which may
have been ejected from a system (rogue planets) or formed through cloud-collapse rather
than accretion (sometimes called sub-brown dwarfs).
Dwarf planets
Main article: Dwarf planet
A dwarf planet is a planetary-mass object that is neither a true planet nor a natural satellite;
it is in direct orbit of a star, and is massive enough for its gravity to compress it into a
hydrostatically equilibrious shape (usually a spheroid), but has not cleared the neighborhood
of other material around its orbit.[114] As of July 2008 the IAU has recognized five dwarf
planets: Ceres in the asteroid belt, and Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris in the outer
Solar System.[115]
Rogue planets
Main article: Rogue planet
See also: Five-planet Nice model
Several computer simulations of stellar and planetary system formation have suggested that
some objects of planetary mass would be ejected into interstellar space.[116]Some scientists
have argued that such objects found roaming in deep space should be classed as "planets",
although others have suggested that they should be called low-mass brown dwarfs.[117][118]
Sub-brown dwarfs
Main article: Sub-brown dwarf
Stars form via the gravitational collapse of gas clouds, but smaller objects can also form via
cloud-collapse. Planetary-mass objects formed this way are sometimes called sub-brown
dwarfs. Sub-brown dwarfs may be free-floating such as Cha 110913-773444[117] and OTS
44,[119] or orbiting a larger object such as 2MASS J04414489+2301513.
Binary systems of sub-brown dwarfs are theoretically possible; Oph 162225-240515 was
initially thought to be a binary system of a brown dwarf of 14 Jupiter masses and a sub-
brown dwarf of 7 Jupiter masses, but further observations revised the estimated masses
upwards to greater than 13 Jupiter masses, making them brown dwarfs according to the IAU
working definitions.[120][121][122]
Former stars
In close binary star systems one of the stars can lose mass to a heavier
companion. Accretion-powered pulsars may drive mass loss. The shrinking star can then
become a planetary-mass object. An example is a Jupiter-mass object orbiting
the pulsar PSR J1719-1438.[123] These shrunken white dwarfs may become a helium
planet or carbon planet.
Satellite planets and belt planets
Some large satellites (moons) are of similar size or larger than the planet Mercury, e.g.
Jupiter's Galilean moons and Titan. Alan Stern has argued that location should not matter
and that only geophysical attributes should be taken into account in the definition of a
planet, and proposes the term satellite planet for a planet-sized satellite. Likewise, dwarf
planets in the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt should be considered planets according to
Stern.[71]
Captured planets
Rogue planets in stellar clusters have similar velocities to the stars and so can be
recaptured. They are typically captured into wide orbits between 100 and 105 AU. The
capture efficiency decreases with increasing cluster volume, and for a given cluster size it
increases with the host/primary mass. It is almost independent of the planetary mass. Single
and multiple planets could be captured into arbitrary unaligned orbits, non-coplanar with
each other or with the stellar host spin, or pre-existing planetary system.[124]
Attributes
Although each planet has unique physical characteristics, a number of broad commonalities
do exist among them. Some of these characteristics, such as rings or natural satellites, have
only as yet been observed in planets in the Solar System, whereas others are also
commonly observed in extrasolar planets.
Dynamic characteristics
Orbit
Main articles: Orbit and Orbital elements
See also: Kepler's laws of planetary motion

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).

According to current definitions, all planets must revolve around stars; thus, any potential
"rogue planets" are excluded. In the Solar System, all the planets orbit the Sun in the same
direction as the Sun rotates (counter-clockwise as seen from above the Sun's north pole). At
least one extrasolar planet, WASP-17b, has been found to orbit in the opposite direction to
its star's rotation.[125] The period of one revolution of a planet's orbit is known as its sidereal
periodor year.[126] A planet's year depends on its distance from its star; the farther a planet is
from its star, not only the longer the distance it must travel, but also the slower its speed,
because it is less affected by its star's gravity. No planet's orbit is perfectly circular, and
hence the distance of each varies over the course of its year. The closest approach to its
star is called its periastron (perihelion in the Solar System), whereas its farthest separation
from the star is called its apastron (aphelion). As a planet approaches periastron, its speed
increases as it trades gravitational potential energy for kinetic energy, just as a falling object
on Earth accelerates as it falls; as the planet reaches apastron, its speed decreases, just as
an object thrown upwards on Earth slows down as it reaches the apex of its trajectory.[127]
Each planet's orbit is delineated by a set of elements:

 The eccentricity of an orbit describes how elongated a planet's orbit is. Planets with low
eccentricities have more circular orbits, whereas planets with high eccentricities have
more elliptical orbits. The planets in the Solar System have very low eccentricities, and
thus nearly circular orbits.[126] Comets and Kuiper belt objects (as well as several
extrasolar planets) have very high eccentricities, and thus exceedingly elliptical
orbits.[128][129]
 

Illustration of the semi-major axis

The semi-major axis is the distance from a planet to the half-way point along the longest
diameter of its elliptical orbit (see image). This distance is not the same as its apastron,
because no planet's orbit has its star at its exact centre.[126]

 The inclination of a planet tells how far above or below an established reference plane
its orbit lies. In the Solar System, the reference plane is the plane of Earth's orbit, called
the ecliptic. For extrasolar planets, the plane, known as the sky plane or plane of the
sky, is the plane perpendicular to the observer's line of sight from Earth.[130] The eight
planets of the Solar System all lie very close to the ecliptic; comets and Kuiper
belt objects like Pluto are at far more extreme angles to it.[131]The points at which a
planet crosses above and below its reference plane are called
its ascending and descending nodes.[126] The longitude of the ascending nodeis the
angle between the reference plane's 0 longitude and the planet's ascending node.
The argument of periapsis (or perihelion in the Solar System) is the angle between a
planet's ascending node and its closest approach to its star.[126]
Axial tilt
Main article: Axial tilt

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.

Planets also have varying degrees of axial tilt; they lie at an angle to the plane of their stars'
equators. This causes the amount of light received by each hemisphere to vary over the
course of its year; when the northern hemisphere points away from its star, the southern
hemisphere points towards it, and vice versa. Each planet therefore has seasons, changes
to the climate over the course of its year. The time at which each hemisphere points farthest
or nearest from its star is known as its solstice. Each planet has two in the course of its orbit;
when one hemisphere has its summer solstice, when its day is longest, the other has its
winter solstice, when its day is shortest. The varying amount of light and heat received by
each hemisphere creates annual changes in weather patterns for each half of the planet.
Jupiter's axial tilt is very small, so its seasonal variation is minimal; Uranus, on the other
hand, has an axial tilt so extreme it is virtually on its side, which means that its hemispheres
are either perpetually in sunlight or perpetually in darkness around the time of its
solstices.[132] Among extrasolar planets, axial tilts are not known for certain, though most hot
Jupiters are believed to have negligible to no axial tilt as a result of their proximity to their
stars.[133]
Rotation
The planets rotate around invisible axes through their centres. A planet's rotation period is
known as a stellar day. Most of the planets in the Solar System rotate in the same direction
as they orbit the Sun, which is counter-clockwise as seen from above the Sun's north pole,
the exceptions being Venus[134] and Uranus,[135] which rotate clockwise, though Uranus's
extreme axial tilt means there are differing conventions on which of its poles is "north", and
therefore whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise.[136] Regardless of which
convention is used, Uranus has a retrograde rotation relative to its orbit.
The rotation of a planet can be induced by several factors during formation. A net angular
momentum can be induced by the individual angular momentum contributions of accreted
objects. The accretion of gas by the giant planets can also contribute to the angular
momentum. Finally, during the last stages of planet building, a stochastic process of
protoplanetary accretion can randomly alter the spin axis of the planet.[137] There is great
variation in the length of day between the planets, with Venus taking 243 days to rotate, and
the giant planets only a few hours.[138] The rotational periods of extrasolar planets are not
known. However, for "hot" Jupiters, their proximity to their stars means that they are tidally
locked (i.e., their orbits are in sync with their rotations). This means, they always show one
face to their stars, with one side in perpetual day, the other in perpetual night.[139]
Orbital clearing
Main article: Clearing the neighbourhood
The defining dynamic characteristic of a planet is that it has cleared its neighborhood. A
planet that has cleared its neighborhood has accumulated enough mass to gather up or
sweep away all the planetesimals in its orbit. In effect, it orbits its star in isolation, as
opposed to sharing its orbit with a multitude of similar-sized objects. This characteristic was
mandated as part of the IAU's official definition of a planet in August, 2006. This criterion
excludes such planetary bodies as Pluto, Eris and Ceres from full-fledged planethood,
making them instead dwarf planets.[1] Although to date this criterion only applies to the Solar
System, a number of young extrasolar systems have been found in which evidence
suggests orbital clearing is taking place within their circumstellar discs.[140]
Physical characteristics
Mass
Main article: Planetary mass
A planet's defining physical characteristic is that it is massive enough for the force of its own
gravity to dominate over the electromagnetic forces binding its physical structure, leading to
a state of hydrostatic equilibrium. This effectively means that all planets are spherical or
spheroidal. Up to a certain mass, an object can be irregular in shape, but beyond that point,
which varies depending on the chemical makeup of the object, gravity begins to pull an
object towards its own centre of mass until the object collapses into a sphere.[141]
Mass is also the prime attribute by which planets are distinguished from stars. The upper
mass limit for planethood is roughly 13 times Jupiter's mass for objects with solar-
type isotopic abundance, beyond which it achieves conditions suitable for nuclear fusion.
Other than the Sun, no objects of such mass exist in the Solar System; but there are
exoplanets of this size. The 13-Jupiter-mass limit is not universally agreed upon and
the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia includes objects up to 20 Jupiter masses,[142] and
the Exoplanet Data Explorer up to 24 Jupiter masses.[143]
The smallest known planet is PSR B1257+12A, one of the first extrasolar planets
discovered, which was found in 1992 in orbit around a pulsar. Its mass is roughly half that of
the planet Mercury.[4] The smallest known planet orbiting a main-sequence star other than
the Sun is Kepler-37b, with a mass (and radius) slightly higher than that of the Moon.
Internal differentiation
Main article: Planetary differentiation

Illustration of the interior of Jupiter, with a rocky core overlaid by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen

Every planet began its existence in an entirely fluid state; in early formation, the denser,
heavier materials sank to the centre, leaving the lighter materials near the surface. Each
therefore has a differentiated interior consisting of a dense planetary core surrounded by
a mantle that either is or was a fluid. The terrestrial planets are sealed within
hard crusts,[144] but in the giant planets the mantle simply blends into the upper cloud layers.
The terrestrial planets have cores of elements such as iron and nickel, and mantles
of silicates. Jupiter and Saturn are believed to have cores of rock and metal surrounded by
mantles of metallic hydrogen.[145] Uranus and Neptune, which are smaller, have rocky cores
surrounded by mantles of water, ammonia, methane and other ices.[146] The fluid action
within these planets' cores creates a geodynamo that generates a magnetic field.[144]
Atmosphere
Main articles: Atmosphere and Extraterrestrial atmospheres
See also: Extraterrestrial skies

Earth's atmosphere

All of the Solar System planets except Mercury[147] have substantial atmospheres because
their gravity is strong enough to keep gases close to the surface. The larger giant planets
are massive enough to keep large amounts of the light gases hydrogen and helium,
whereas the smaller planets lose these gases into space.[148] The composition of Earth's
atmosphere is different from the other planets because the various life processes that have
transpired on the planet have introduced free molecular oxygen.[149]
Planetary atmospheres are affected by the varying insolation or internal energy, leading to
the formation of dynamic weather systems such as hurricanes, (on Earth), planet-wide dust
storms (on Mars), a greater-than-Earth-sized anticyclone on Jupiter (called the Great Red
Spot), and holes in the atmosphere (on Neptune).[132] At least one extrasolar planet, HD
189733 b, has been claimed to have such a weather system, similar to the Great Red Spot
but twice as large.[150]
Hot Jupiters, due to their extreme proximities to their host stars, have been shown to be
losing their atmospheres into space due to stellar radiation, much like the tails of
comets.[151][152] These planets may have vast differences in temperature between their day
and night sides that produce supersonic winds,[153] although the day and night sides of HD
189733 b appear to have very similar temperatures, indicating that that planet's atmosphere
effectively redistributes the star's energy around the planet.[150]
Magnetosphere
Main article: Magnetosphere

Earth's magnetosphere (diagram)

One important characteristic of the planets is their intrinsic magnetic moments, which in turn
give rise to magnetospheres. The presence of a magnetic field indicates that the planet is
still geologically alive. In other words, magnetized planets have flows of electrically
conducting material in their interiors, which generate their magnetic fields. These fields
significantly change the interaction of the planet and solar wind. A magnetized planet
creates a cavity in the solar wind around itself called the magnetosphere, which the wind
cannot penetrate. The magnetosphere can be much larger than the planet itself. In contrast,
non-magnetized planets have only small magnetospheres induced by interaction of
the ionosphere with the solar wind, which cannot effectively protect the planet.[154]
Of the eight planets in the Solar System, only Venus and Mars lack such a magnetic
field.[154] In addition, the moon of Jupiter Ganymede also has one. Of the magnetized planets
the magnetic field of Mercury is the weakest, and is barely able to deflect the solar wind.
Ganymede's magnetic field is several times larger, and Jupiter's is the strongest in the Solar
System (so strong in fact that it poses a serious health risk to future manned missions to its
moons). The magnetic fields of the other giant planets are roughly similar in strength to that
of Earth, but their magnetic moments are significantly larger. The magnetic fields of Uranus
and Neptune are strongly tilted relative the rotational axis and displaced from the centre of
the planet.[154]
In 2004, a team of astronomers in Hawaii observed an extrasolar planet around the star HD
179949, which appeared to be creating a sunspot on the surface of its parent star. The team
hypothesized that the planet's magnetosphere was transferring energy onto the star's
surface, increasing its already high 7,760 °C temperature by an additional 400 °C.[155]
Secondary characteristics
 Main articles: Natural satellite and Planetary ring

The rings of Saturn

Several planets or dwarf planets in the Solar System (such as Neptune and Pluto) have
orbital periods that are in resonance with each other or with smaller bodies (this is also
common in satellite systems). All except Mercury and Venus have natural satellites, often
called "moons". Earth has one, Mars has two, and the giant planets have numerous moons
in complex planetary-type systems. Many moons of the giant planets have features similar
to those on the terrestrial planets and dwarf planets, and some have been studied as
possible abodes of life (especially Europa).[156][157][158]
The four giant planets are also orbited by planetary rings of varying size and complexity. The
rings are composed primarily of dust or particulate matter, but can host tiny 'moonlets'
whose gravity shapes and maintains their structure. Although the origins of planetary rings is
not precisely known, they are believed to be the result of natural satellites that fell below
their parent planet's Roche limit and were torn apart by tidal forces.[159][160]
No secondary characteristics have been observed around extrasolar planets. The sub-
brown dwarf Cha 110913-773444, which has been described as a rogue planet, is believed
to be orbited by a tiny protoplanetary disc[117] and the sub-brown dwarf OTS 44 was shown to
be surrounded by a substantial protoplanetary disk of at least 10 Earth masses.[119]

See also

 Astronomy portal

 Solar System portal

 Space portal

 Double planet – Two planetary mass objects orbiting each other

 List of exoplanets
 List of hypothetical Solar System objects
 List of landings on extraterrestrial bodies
 Lists of planets – A list of lists of planets sorted by diverse attributes
 Mesoplanet – A celestial body smaller than Mercury but larger than Ceres
 Minor planet – A celestial body smaller than a planet
 Planetary habitability – Extent to which a planet is suitable for life as we know it
 Planetary mnemonic – A phrase used to remember the names of the planets
 Planetary science – The scientific study of planets
 Planets in astrology
 Planets in science fiction
 Theoretical planetology

Notes
1. ^ This definition is drawn from two separate IAU declarations; a formal definition agreed by
the IAU in 2006, and an informal working definition established by the IAU in 2001/2003 for
objects outside of the Solar System. The official 2006 definition applies only to the Solar
System, whereas the 2003 definition applies to planets around other stars. The extrasolar
planet issue was deemed too complex to resolve at the 2006 IAU conference.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b For the purpose of this 1 in 5 statistic, "Sun-like" means G-type star. Data for
Sun-like stars wasn't available so this statistic is an extrapolation from data about K-type
stars
3. ^ Jump up to:a b For the purpose of this 1 in 5 statistic, Earth-sized means 1–2 Earth radii
4. ^ Jump up to:a b For the purpose of this 1 in 5 statistic, "habitable zone" means the region with
0.25 to 4 times Earth's stellar flux (corresponding to 0.5–2 AU for the Sun).
5. ^ Referred to by Huygens as a Planetes novus ("new planet") in his Systema Saturnium
6. ^ Jump up to:a b Both labelled nouvelles planètes (new planets) by Cassini in his Découverte
de deux nouvelles planetes autour de Saturne[67]
7. ^ Jump up to:a b Both once referred to as "planets" by Cassini in his An Extract of the Journal
Des Scavans.... The term "satellite" had already begun to be used to distinguish such bodies
from those around which they orbited ("primary planets").
8. ^ Jump up to:a b c Measured relative to Earth.
9. ^ Jupiter has the most verified satellites (79) in the Solar System.[101]

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External links
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 International Astronomical Union website

 Photojournal NASA
 NASA Planet Quest – Exoplanet Exploration
 Illustration comparing the sizes of the planets with each other, the Sun, and other stars
 "IAU Press Releases since 1999 "The status of Pluto: A Clarification"". Archived
from the original on 2007-12-14.
 "Regarding the criteria for planethood and proposed planetary classification
schemes." article by Stern and Levinson
 Planetary Science Research Discoveries (educational site with illustrated articles)
 The Planets, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Paul Murdin, Hugh Jones & Carolin Crawford
(In Our Time, May 27, 2004)