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physical object > natural object > celestial body > planet > superior planet

superior planet
subject			fact

superior planet	has definition Planets farther from the Sun than the Earth is (i.e., Mars to Pluto).
	is a kind of planet
planet	has composition various elements
	is a part of solar system
	has orbit
	has mass greater than Pluto's mass and less massive than ten times Jupiter's mass
celestial body	has spectra
physical object	has location or center of gravity
	has angular momentum
	has velocity
	has momentum
	has temperature
	has volume
	has extent
	has material

Kinds of superior planet :

• Jupiter (29 facts) - Fifth planet from the Sun. It is more massive than all other planets and satellites combined; if it were about 80 times more massive, it would become self-luminous due to fusion reactions. The heat flux to from the center to the surface is mainly convective. For both Jupiter and Saturn it is necessary to invoke a substantial source of internal heating (presumably gravitational contraction) to account for the surface temperature (Jupiter radiates about 2 1/2 times as much heat as it receives from the Sun). Jupiter's surface shows pronounced horizontal striations: the light layers (zones) are at a slightly higher altitude and about 15° cooler than the dark layers (belts). It is surrounded by a partial torus of atomic H in the orbit of Io. Thirteen satellites, the four outermost of which have retrograde motion, high eccentricity, and high inclination. (Jupiter XIII, discovered in 1974, has a period of 239 days; i = 26°.7, e = 0.147.)
• Mars (25 facts) - Fourth major planet out from the Sun. Its tiny satellites are locked in synchronous rotation with mars.
• Neptune (24 facts) - Eighth major planet out from the Sun. Discovered in by following predictions calculated by Urbain Le Verrier. Similar predictions had been made earlier by John Couch Adams but were not followed up.
• Pluto (18 facts) - The most distant known planet from the Sun. Its orbit has the highest eccentricity and highest inclination to the ecliptic of any planet and some astronomers suggest that it may be an escaped satellite of Neptune. In the mid-1970s Pluto crosses Neptune's orbit on its way in, and for the rest of this century Pluto will be closer to the Sun than Neptune (Pluto and Neptune, however, are never less than 2.6 AU apart). Its mass and radius have not been determined with any great certainty.
• Saturn (24 facts) - Sixth major planet out from the Sun. The most spectacular of the Solar System, it is circled by a series of concentric rings. All the satellites of Saturn are locked in synchronous rotation.
• Uranus (25 facts) - Seventh planet from the Sun. Has retrograde rotation.