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The choice of solar mass, M ☉, as the basic unit for planetary mass comes directly from the calculations used to determine planetary mass.In the most precise case, that of the Earth itself, the mass is known in terms of solar masses to twelve significant figures: the same mass, in terms of kilograms or other Earth-based units, is only known to five significant figures, which is less than a ...
An Earth mass (denoted as M 🜨, M ♁ or M E, where 🜨 and ♁ are the astronomical symbols for Earth), is a unit of mass equal to the mass of the planet Earth. The current best estimate for the mass of Earth is M 🜨 = 5.9722 × 10 24 kg, with a relative uncertainty of 10 −4. [2] It is equivalent to an average density of 5515 kg/m 3.
The solar mass (M ☉) is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, equal to approximately 2 × 10 30 kg (20 nonillion kilograms in US short scale). It is approximately equal to the mass of the Sun . It is often used to indicate the masses of other stars , as well as stellar clusters , nebulae , galaxies and black holes .
For the giant planets, the "radius" is defined as the distance from the center at which the atmosphere reaches 1 bar of atmospheric pressure. [11] Because Sedna and 2002 MS 4 have no known moons, directly determining their mass is impossible without sending a probe (estimated to be from 1.7x10 21 to 6.1×10 21 kg for Sedna [12]).
The Jupiter mass, also called Jovian mass, is the unit of mass equal to the total mass of the planet Jupiter. This value may refer to the mass of the planet alone, or the mass of the entire Jovian system to include the moons of Jupiter. Jupiter is by far the most massive planet in the Solar System. It is approximately 2.5 times as massive as ...
[5] [3] Using the mass function and the radial velocity of the host star, the minimum mass of an exoplanet can be determined. [15] [16]: 9 [12] [17] Applying this method on Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the solar system, led to the discovery of Proxima Centauri b, a terrestrial planet with a minimum mass of 1.27 M E. [18]
In astronomy, minimum mass is the lower-bound calculated mass of observed objects such as planets, stars, binary systems, [1] nebulae, [2] and black holes. Minimum mass is a widely cited statistic for extrasolar planets detected by the radial velocity method or Doppler spectroscopy, and is determined using the binary mass function .
If its mass is no more than 5 times that of the Earth, as is expected, [6] and if it is a rocky planet with a large iron core, it should have a radius approximately 50% larger than that of Earth. [7] [8] Gravity on such a planet's surface would be approximately 2.2 times as strong as on Earth. If it is an icy or watery planet, its radius might ...