Shown in order from the Sun and in true color. Sizes are not to scale.
A giant planet, sometimes referred to as a jovian planet (Jove being another name for the Roman god Jupiter), is a diverse type of planet much larger than Earth. Giant planets are usually primarily composed of low-boiling point materials (volatiles), rather than rock or other solid matter, but massive solid planets can also exist. There are four such planets in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Many extrasolar giant planets have been identified.
Giant planets are sometimes known as gas giants, but many astronomers now apply the term only to Jupiter and Saturn, classifying Uranus and Neptune, which have different compositions, as ice giants. Both names are potentially misleading; the Solar System's giant planets all consist primarily of fluids above their critical points, where distinct gas and liquid phases do not exist. Jupiter and Saturn are principally made of hydrogen and helium, whilst Uranus and Neptune consist of water, ammonia, and methane.
The defining differences between a very low-mass brown dwarf and a massive gas giant (~13MJ) are debated. One school of thought is based on planetary formation; the other, on the physics of the interior of planets. Part of the debate concerns whether brown dwarfs must, by definition, have experienced nuclear fusion at some point in their history.[1]
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A giantplanet, sometimes referred to as a jovian planet (Jove being another name for the Roman god Jupiter), is a diverse type of planet much larger...
gas giant is a giantplanet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" was...
eight planets: the terrestrial planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, and the giantplanets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The word planet probably...
An ice giant is a giantplanet composed mainly of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, such as oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. There are two...
Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown suggested that Planet Nine may be the core of a giantplanet that was ejected from its original orbit by Jupiter...
and Saturn); and two ice giants (Uranus and Neptune). All terrestrial planets have solid surfaces. Inversely, all giantplanets do not have a definite surface...
Lowell's quest for Planet X. Lowell proposed the Planet X hypothesis to explain apparent discrepancies in the orbits of the giantplanets, particularly Uranus...
planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. A gas giant, Jupiter's mass is more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in...
known planet from the Sun. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giantplanet. It...
Subgiants Giants Red giants Blue giants Bright giants Supergiants Red supergiant Hypergiants absolute magni- tude (MV) A red giant is a luminous giant star...
giantplanet formation to be within 10 AU, where the planets can coalesce quickly enough before the disk evaporates. Very-long-period giantplanets may...
S2CID 247065421. "The Outer Planets: GiantPlanets: What Are They, and Where Are They?". lasp.colorado.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-21. "Two planets found sharing one...
a common component of satellite systems around giantplanets like Saturn. A ring system around a planet is also known as a planetary ring system. The most...
suggestion is that planets should be distinguished from brown dwarfs on the basis of their formation. It is widely thought that giantplanets form through core...
producing a few terrestrial planets. The last stage takes approximately 100 million to a billion years. The formation of giantplanets is a more complicated...
A helium planet is a planet with a helium-dominated atmosphere. This contrasts with ordinary gas giants such as Jupiter and Saturn, whose atmospheres consist...
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a supercritical...
Planet of Giants is the first serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by Louis Marks and directed...
been shown to be based on a faulty understanding of Sumerian text, a giantplanet (called Nibiru or Marduk) passes by Earth every 3,600 years, allowing...
would be significantly increased by the sweeping of resonances due to giantplanet migration. Studies of the highland crater size distributions suggest...
Trevor N. (2023). "Astrometric Accelerations as Dynamical Beacons: A GiantPlanet Imaged inside the Debris Disk of the Young Star AF Lep". The Astrophysical...
was for the inner planets to migrate inward as the disk dissipated, leaving the planets in their current orbits. The giantplanets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus...
approximately the same size as gas giantplanets, white dwarfs and brown dwarfs. This is due to the fact that gas giantplanets, white dwarfs, and brown dwarfs...
A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet, is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate, rocks or metals. Within the Solar System,...
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