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The superior planets, orbiting outside the Earth's orbit, do not exhibit a full range of phases since their maximum phase angles are smaller than 90°. Mars often appears significantly gibbous, it has a maximum phase angle of 45°. Jupiter has a maximum phase angle of 11.1° and Saturn of 6°, [1] so their phases are almost always full.
"Inferior planet" refers to Mercury and Venus, which are closer to the Sun than Earth is. "Superior planet" refers to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (the latter two added later), which are further from the Sun than Earth is. The terms are sometimes used more generally; for example, Earth is an inferior planet relative to Mars.
A terrestrial planet with an arid surface consistency similar to Earth's deserts. Mars: Gas dwarf: A low-mass planet composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. GJ 1214 b: Gas giant: A massive planet composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Saturn, Jupiter, 70 Virginis b: Helium planet: A theoretical planet that may form via mass loss from a ...
Seen from a superior planet, an inferior planet on the opposite side of the Sun is in superior conjunction with the Sun. An inferior conjunction occurs when the two planets align on the same side of the Sun. At inferior conjunction, the superior planet is "in opposition" to the Sun as seen from the inferior planet (see the diagram).
The Earth phase, Terra phase, terrestrial phase, or phase of Earth, is the shape of the directly sunlit portion of Earth as viewed from the Moon (or elsewhere extraterrestrially). From the Moon, Earth phases gradually and cyclically change over the period of a synodic month (about 29.53 days), as the orbital positions of the Moon around Earth ...
Conjunctions between a planet inside the orbit of Earth (Venus or Mercury) and a planet outside are a bit more complicated. As the outer planet swings around from being in opposition to the Sun to being east of the Sun, then in superior conjunction with the Sun, then west of the Sun, and back to opposition, it will be in conjunction with Venus ...
This can be the result of chemical reactions, phase changes, kinetic effects, or radioactivity. [1]: 2–3 On the largest scale, planetary differentiation is a physical and chemical separation of a planet into chemically distinct regions. For example, the terrestrial planets formed iron-rich cores and silicate-rich mantles and crusts.
The apparent brightness of Mercury as seen from Earth is greatest at phase angle 0° (superior conjunction with the Sun) when it can reach magnitude −2.6. [14] At phase angles approaching 180° (inferior conjunction) the planet fades to about magnitude +5 [14] with the exact brightness depending on the phase angle at that particular ...