Re: Ok, so who's planet or satillite?
- From: pjdd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: 29 Sep 2005 11:58:05 -0700
G wrote:
> Me and a friend we're arguing over. What is a planet and what is a
> satellite...
> He said to me earth is a satellite. I said no earth is a planet, the moon is
> satellite.
> He states the earth is a satellite of the sun. I said no earth is a planet
> in the sun's solar system...
> Any way this argument can go on and on...
> So where is the line drawn for this?...
> Planet / satellite which ever?..
>
My understanding is that it's more a matter of convention than of
strict inviolable definition. "Planet" is usually applied to major
lumps of matter that revolve around a star and don't produce
significant luminosities of their own. "Satellite" is a more general
term that can be applied to a wider range of bodies whose movement is
centred around another, usually larger and/or more important, body.
.
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