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A ring system is a disc or torus orbiting an astronomical object that is composed of solid material such as gas, dust, meteoroids, planetoids or moonlets and stellar objects. Ring systems are best known as planetary rings, common components of satellite systems around giant planets such as of Saturn, or circumplanetary disks.
A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet, is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate, rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets accepted by the IAU are the inner planets closest to the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Among astronomers who use the geophysical definition of a planet, two or three ...
e. The geology of solar terrestrial planets mainly deals with the geological aspects of the four terrestrial planets of the Solar System – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – and one terrestrial dwarf planet: Ceres. Earth is the only terrestrial planet known to have an active hydrosphere. Terrestrial planets are substantially different from ...
Ice planet: A theoretical planet with an icy surface and consists of a global cryosphere. Iron planet: A theoretical planet that consists primarily of an iron-rich core with little or no mantle. Lava planet: A theoretical terrestrial planet with a surface mostly or entirely covered by molten lava. Ocean planet
A planetary core consists of the innermost layers of a planet. [1] Cores may be entirely liquid, or a mixture of solid and liquid layers as is the case in the Earth. [2] In the Solar System, core sizes range from about 20% (the Moon) to 85% of a planet's radius (Mercury). Gas giants also have cores, though the composition of these are still a ...
Planetshine is the dim illumination, by sunlight reflected from a planet, of all or part of the otherwise dark side of any moon orbiting the body. Planetlight is the diffuse reflection of sunlight from a planet, whose albedo can be measured. The most observed and familiar example of planetshine is earthshine on the Moon, which is most visible ...
Planetary surfaces are found on solid objects of planetary mass, including terrestrial planets (including Earth), dwarf planets, natural satellites, planetesimals and many other small Solar System bodies (SSSBs). [1][2][3] The study of planetary surfaces is a field of planetary geology known as surface geology, but also a focus on a number of ...
Planetary science. A geological map of the Sputnik Planitia basin on the dwarf planet Pluto. Analysis of planetary surfaces and surface features is a major component of planetary science. Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and ...