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A numerical model of the Solar System is a set of mathematical equations, which, when solved, give the approximate positions of the planets as a function of time. Attempts to create such a model established the more general field of celestial mechanics.
The emphasis of the mission is on Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around Sun-like stars where water can exist in liquid state. [24] It is the third medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme and named after the influential Greek philosopher Plato, the founding figure of Western philosophy, science and mathematics. A ...
Because new planets are discovered infrequently, the IAU did not have any mechanism for their definition and naming. After the discovery of Sedna, it set up a 19-member committee in 2005, with the British astronomer Iwan Williams in the chair, to consider the definition of a planet. It proposed three definitions that could be adopted: Cultural
Desert planet: A terrestrial planet with little to no water. Extragalactic planet: A planet that is located outside the Milky Way galaxy Eyeball planet: A tidally locked planet where uneven heating of the surface induces spatial features resembling a human eye. Helium planet: A gas giant composed mainly of helium instead of hydrogen. Hycean ...
A class of extrasolar planets whose characteristics are similar to Jupiter, but that have high surface temperatures because they orbit very close—between approximately 0.015 and 0.5 AU (2.2 × 10 ^ 6 and 74.8 × 10 ^ 6 km)—to their parent stars, whereas Jupiter orbits its parent star (the Sun) at 5.2 AU (780 × 10 ^ 6 km), causing low ...
Only 12 light years from Earth, Tau Ceti is the closest single star similar to the Sun and an all-time favorite in sci-fi stories. Habitable worlds orbiting Tau Ceti were destinations of fictional ...
The mathematics of general relativity is complicated. In Newton 's theories of motion, an object's length and the rate at which time passes remain constant while the object accelerates , meaning that many problems in Newtonian mechanics may be solved by algebra alone.
The definition of the term planet has changed several times since the word was coined by the ancient Greeks. Greek astronomers employed the term ἀστέρες πλανῆται (asteres planetai), 'wandering stars', for star-like objects which apparently moved over the sky.