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Classification of Planets

There are two categories of planets based on their composition: terrestrial and Jovian. Terrestrial planets like Earth are composed mostly of rock and metal, while Jovian planets like Jupiter are made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. The type of planet that forms depends on where in the solar nebula it was formed - terrestrial planets form in the inner, warmer regions closer to the Sun, while Jovian planets form in the outer, cooler regions farther from the Sun. The International Astronomical Union classifies celestial bodies as planets if they orbit the Sun and are massive enough to be round in shape, but have cleared their orbital path of other objects. Dwarf planets meet the first two criteria but have not cleared their orbits.

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490 views

Classification of Planets

There are two categories of planets based on their composition: terrestrial and Jovian. Terrestrial planets like Earth are composed mostly of rock and metal, while Jovian planets like Jupiter are made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. The type of planet that forms depends on where in the solar nebula it was formed - terrestrial planets form in the inner, warmer regions closer to the Sun, while Jovian planets form in the outer, cooler regions farther from the Sun. The International Astronomical Union classifies celestial bodies as planets if they orbit the Sun and are massive enough to be round in shape, but have cleared their orbital path of other objects. Dwarf planets meet the first two criteria but have not cleared their orbits.

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Rosel Sariego
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CLASSIFICATION OF PLANETS

Two Categories of Planets based on Composition


1. Terrestrial
2. Jovian

Terrestrial Planets
• Earth-like planets
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
• Referred to as inner planets
• Composed mostly of dense, rocky, and metallic materials
• are composed primarily of rock and metal and have relatively high densities, slow rotation, solid
surfaces, no rings and few satellites.

Jovian Planets
• Jupiter-like planets
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
• Referred as gas planets
• Made up mostly of hydrogen and helium
• The gas planets are composed primarily of hydrogen and helium and generally have low densities,
rapid rotation, deep atmospheres, rings and lots of satellites.

Why do planets coming from the same cloud of gas have different compositions?
• Where these planets are formed in relation to the distance from the sun defined by the frost line.
• As the radius from the protostar increases, temperature decreases
• At cooler temperature, more materials condense.

Frost line
• The distance of the solar nebula from the protostar

Protostar

Two Division of Frost Line


1. Inner warm regions
2. Outer cooler regions

Warm regions
• where terrestrial planets are formed

Cooler Regions
• Where Jovian planets are formed

Comparison of Terrestrial and Jovian Planets


Terrestrial Jovian
Rocks & metals condense Gases condense to form icy particles
Rocky particles clump Icy particles clump
Clumps accrete Clumps accrete
Clumps forms planetisimals Clumps forms planetisimals
Planetisimals accrete more Planetisimals accrete more
Terrestrial planets forms Jovian planets forms
Other classifications of planets are based on their positions relative to the sun or Earth
1. Position relative to the sun
• inner planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
• outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
• The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter forms the boundary between the inner solar system and
the outer solar system.

2. Position relative to Earth


• inferior planets: Mercury and Venus.
• closer to the Sun than Earth.
• The inferior planets show phases like the Moon's when viewed from Earth.
• superior planets: Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
• farther from the Sun than Earth.
• The superior planets always appear full or nearly so.

3. By size:
small planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars.
• The small planets have diameters less than 13000 km.
giant planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
• The giant planets have diameters greater than 48000 km.
The giant planets are sometimes also referred to as gas giants.

4. By  history
• classical planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
• known since prehistorical times
• visible to the unaided eye
• in ancient times this term also refered to the Sun and the Moon; the order was usually
specificied as: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and Moon, based on the time for
them to go "all the way round" the sphere of the "fixed" stars).
• modern planets: Uranus, Neptune.
• discovered in modern times
• visible only with optical aid
• Earth.
• The IAU decided that "classical" should refer to all eight planets (Mercury thru Neptune, including
Earth but not Pluto). This is contrary to historical usage but makes some sense from a 21st century
perspective.

International Astronomers Union (IAU)


• An organization responsible for naming and nomenclature of the planetary bodies and their satellites
• Define planets as “a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun”

Dwarf planets
• is a celestial body

Characteristics of a dwarf planets


• Is in orbit around the sun
• Has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a nearly-
round shape
• Has not cleared the neighborhood around it
• Is not a satellite
• The key difference is that a planet has cleared other objects in the area of its orbit while a dwarf
planet has not.

The five IAU-recognized dwarf planets


1. Pluto
2. Ceres
3. Make-make
4. Eris
5. Hauma

Pluto
• as viewed by New Horizons space probe on July 13, 2015.
• is the second closest dwarf planet to the Sun and was at one point classified as the ninth planet
• is the largest dwarf planet but only the second most massive, with Eris being the most massive.
Ceres
• as seen from the Dawn spacecraft. It is the only dwarf planet in the asteroid belt.
• is the closest dwarf planet to the Sun and is located in the asteroid belt, between Mars and
Jupiter, making it the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system. Ceres is the smallest of the bodies
current classified as dwarf planets with a diameter of 950km.
Make-make
• its moon S/2015 (136472) 1 viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
• the second furthest dwarf planet from the Sun 
• is the third largest dwarf planet in the solar system.
• was discovered on March 31st 2005 and was recognized as a dwarf planet by the International
Astronomical Union (IAU) in July 2008.
• Until April 2016 Makemake was thought to be the only one of the four outer dwarf planets to not
have any moons.
Eris
• its moon Dysnomia viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope
• is the most distant dwarf planet from the Sun and has the greatest mass.
• is the second largest dwarf planet (very a close second to Pluto) and at one point was considered for
the position of the 10th planet.
• Eris’ discovery promoted discussion that eventually lead to the classification of ‘Dwarf Planets’.
Haumea
• its two moons Namaka 
and Hi'iakaviewed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
• is the third closest dwarf planet from the Sun and is unique in its elongated shape making it the least
spherical of the dwarf planets.

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