Ad
related to: properties of outer planets
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
If a planet is detectable by both the radial-velocity and the transit methods, then both its true mass and its radius can be determined, as well as its density. Planets with low density are inferred to be composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, whereas planets of intermediate density are inferred to have water as a major constituent. A planet ...
The outer edge of the habitable zone is where planets are completely frozen, but planets well inside the habitable zone can periodically become frozen. If orbital fluctuations or other causes produce cooling, then this creates more ice, but ice reflects sunlight causing even more cooling, creating a feedback loop until the planet is completely ...
The smallest known extrasolar planet that is likely a "gas planet" is Kepler-138d, which has the same mass as Earth but is 60% larger and therefore has a density that indicates a thick gas envelope. [16] A low-mass gas planet can still have a radius resembling that of a gas giant if it has the right temperature. [17]
An artist's rendition of Kepler-62f, a potentially habitable exoplanet discovered using data transmitted by the Kepler space telescope. The list of exoplanets detected by the Kepler space telescope contains bodies with a wide variety of properties, with significant ranges in orbital distances, masses, radii, composition, habitability, and host star type.
Astrometry has been used to discover a handful number of exoplanets, mostly gas giants more massive than Jupiter. It is based on measuring a star's proper motion, and seeing how that position changes over time: a planet with a sufficiently large mass is able to gravitationally pull its host star, making its proper motion vary over large timescales.
Animations of the Solar System's outer planets orbiting. This animation is 100 times faster than the inner planet animation. The planets and other large objects in orbit around the Sun lie near the plane of Earth's orbit, known as the ecliptic. Smaller icy objects such as comets frequently orbit at significantly greater angles to this plane.
Planet c is possibly a potentially habitable Super-Earth but is probably too hot or massive. [55] [56] Mu Arae: Ara: 17 h 44 m 08.70 s: −51° 50′ 02.6″ 5.15: 51: G3IV-V: 1.077: 5704: 6.413: 4: Planet Quijote orbits in the circumstellar habitable zone. However, it is a gas giant, so it itself is uninhabitable although a large moon orbiting ...
Despite their outermost layers being dominated by gases, the giant planets are also included in the field of planetary geology, especially when it comes to their interiors. Fields within Planetary geology are largely derived from fields in the traditional geological sciences , such as geophysics , geomorphology , and geochemistry .