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planetary science |
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planetary science or planetology, study of planets and planetary systems planetary system, a star and all the celestial bodies bound to it by gravity, especially planets and their natural satellites . Until the last decade of the 20th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. as a whole. Planetary science applies the theories and methods of traditional disciplines such as astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry, and mathematics to the study of the origin, composition, and distribution of matter in planetary systems, especially the evolution and structure of planets planet [Gr.,=wanderer], a large nonluminous ball of rock or gas that orbits a star. The term, once limited to any of the eight solid, nonluminous bodies (major planets) that revolve around the sun, has been extended to include similar bodies discovered revolving ..... Click the link for more information. and their natural satellites satellite, natural, celestial body orbiting a planet, dwarf planet, asteroid, or star of a larger size. The most familiar natural satellite is the earth's moon ; thus, satellites of other planets are often referred to as moons. ..... Click the link for more information. . The study of planetary systems initially focused on the earth and moon. It was extended to include the other solar planets and their satellites with advances in astronomy, and increased in significance as the lunar and planetary probes of the last half of the 20th cent. returned more and more data. Planetary science burst out of the confines of the solar system with the discovery of extrasolar planets in 1995, of extrasolar multiple-planet systems in 1999, and of an extrasolar planet nearly as old as the universe in 2003. Planetary science is also concerned with the study of life on other planets (see exobiology exobiology or astrobiology, search for extraterrestrial life within the solar system and throughout the universe. Philosophical speculation that there might be other worlds similar to ours dates back to the ancient Chinese and Greeks. ..... Click the link for more information. ). |
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? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | |
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Inevitably, note Basri and Brown in the 2006 Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science, extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs became harder to tell apart. 1995, Differences between oceanic basalts by multitrace element ratio topology: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. Ride and O'Shaughnessy have produced another impressive planetary science book, this time updating the well-worn topic of the solar system with cutting-edge science and astronomical images. |
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planetary science
