Astrophysics (Index)About

gas planet

(planet made largely of gas)

A gas planet is a planet made largely of gas, such as a gas giant. Gas giants are well known, i.e., Jupiter and Saturn, but smaller gas planets (gas dwarfs) have been recently discovered among extra-solar planets (gas dwarfs). There is no consensus threshold regarding which planets should be termed gas planets: presumably requiring gas-to-core ratio (GCR, in this case, core meaning the solid part of the planet) of at least 1 or at least few times that. Earth's GCR is about a millionth. Those of Jupiter and Saturn are unclear because of the unclear size of any rocky core (and because interior liquid volatiles present additional semantic issues) but certainly well above 1.


(planet type,exoplanets,gas)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_giant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_dwarf

Referenced by pages:
barrier
CHEOPS
extra-solar planet
H-R diagram (HRD)
hot Jupiter (HJ)
inertial wave
inflated radii
Lane-Emden equation
liquid planet
mass-radius relation
metallicity (Z)
mini-Neptune
Neptune
PALMS
pebble accretion
planet
planet formation
planet type
protoplanetary disk (PPD)
sedimentation
star
super-Earth
tidal migration
tidal Q

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