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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 ...
For example, if a TNO is incorrectly assumed to have a mass of 3.59 × 10 20 kg based on a radius of 350 km with a density of 2 g/cm 3 but is later discovered to have a radius of only 175 km with a density of 0.5 g/cm 3, its true mass would be only 1.12 × 10 19 kg.
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. 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 .
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 ...
where C is the first principal moment of inertia of the body, M is the mass of the body, and R is the mean radius of the body. [1] [2] For a sphere with uniform density, / = /. [note 1] [note 2] For a differentiated planet or satellite, where there is an increase of density with depth, / < /.
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 .
Barring detailed mass determinations, [4] the mass can be estimated from the diameter and assumed density values worked out as below. = Besides these estimations, masses can be obtained for the larger asteroids by solving for the perturbations they cause in each other's orbits, [5] or when the asteroid has an orbiting companion of known orbital radius.