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The four outer planets, called giant planets or Jovian planets, collectively make up 99% of the mass orbiting the Sun. [h] All four giant planets have multiple moons and a ring system, although only Saturn's rings are easily observed from Earth. [91] Jupiter and Saturn are composed mainly of gases with extremely low melting points, such as ...
The average distance between Saturn and the Sun is over 1.4 billion kilometers (9 AU). With an average orbital speed of 9.68 km/s, [6] it takes Saturn 10,759 Earth days (or about 29 + 1 ⁄ 2 years) [86] to finish one revolution around the Sun. [6] As a consequence, it forms a near 5:2 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter. [87]
A class of extrasolar planets whose characteristics are similar to Jupiter, but that have high surface temperatures because they orbit very close—between approximately 0.015 and 0.5 AU (2.2 × 10 ^ 6 and 74.8 × 10 ^ 6 km)—to their parent stars, whereas Jupiter orbits its parent star (the Sun) at 5.2 AU (780 × 10 ^ 6 km), causing low ...
This is common in satellite systems (e.g. the resonance between Io, Europa, and Ganymede around Jupiter, or between Enceladus and Dione around Saturn). 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.
The 23-degree tilt of the Earth’s axis would have caused the ring to present its surface to the sun, casting a shadow in the atmosphere and on the ground below and causing global temperatures to ...
The defining differences between a very low-mass brown dwarf (which can have a mass as low as roughly 13 times that of Jupiter [4]) and a gas giant are debated. [5] One school of thought is based on formation; the other, on the physics of the interior. [5]
However, this is an imperfect metaphor as expected, due to the large differences in sizes, temperature, and composition between Earth and the gas giants, and even between gas giants. Polar vortices were observed on Venus and Saturn. In turn, Earth's thinner atmosphere shows weaker polar vorticity and effects.
"Inferior planet" refers to Mercury and Venus, which are closer to the Sun than Earth is. "Superior planet" refers to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (the latter two added later), which are further from the Sun than Earth is. The terms are sometimes used more generally; for example, Earth is an inferior planet relative to Mars.