Question:

Is a planet a star?

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just wondering

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  1. no. if a planet was a star, it would be called a star. if you are talking about what they look like in the night sky, well this is it. planets usually are brighter than most stars, and are shaped a little more like discs in the night sky than stars. stars are more dots, and planets look like elongated dots. they are also brighter in most cases.

    here's the classification of a planet:

    1. it must orbit a star (like earth orbits the sun)

    2. it must be shaped into a sphere as a result of its own gravity (earth is shaped like a sphere because of it's gravity)

    3. it must be the largest object in its orbit. (theres nothing bigger than earth within its own orbit)

    4. it must have a clear orbital path. (no asteroids, or minor celestial bodies.)

    make sense?


  2. A few hundred years ago, people did not have the same understanding that people today have. Nobody knew how to distinguish reflected light from self emitted light. So for people living back then, both planets and stars were just classified as stars.

    However, they did observe that some stars were moving while others remained stationary. So they called these 'wandering stars' as planets.

    There's more to the definition of a 'planet', you can google it. For most of the population, when they see Mars or Jupiter in the sky, they will consider it a star. But astronomers have defined things differently. So it is apt to ask, whether astronomers have the right to define words related to astronomy and are used by the common public.

    For example, the bible records that some people saw a bright 'star' that moved then came to rest over Bethlehem. Using the modern astronomer's definition of a 'star', this may not possible. This movement is more likely for a planet.

    So if astronomers are going to redefine words used by the general public, I think they have to first get consensus from the public. I suspect in many other languages, the word 'star' includes planets as well.

  3. Stars and planets are made up of  two different properties:

    (1) A star forms from a very big cloud of gas...

    (2) A planet is build up out of the dust that surrounds a star, that evolve into planets.

    ...so No.

  4. WWJS?????????

  5. no a planet is a planet...a star is a star.

    =]

  6. No they are all planets.... Except the sun which is a star.

  7. If that were the case, we would all be dead from the incredible heat, pressure, and lack of surface.  A star is a ball of gas giving off light.  A planet is a mass (solid or gassy) that reflects said light.

  8. the sun is my favorite planet. it's like the king of planets.  one time i stared at it with binoculars for over an hour. curiosity i guess.

  9. No It Isnt A Star Are Those Tiny Bright Things Up In The Sky Which Are Really Bigger Than Planets And Can Destroy Earth If It Wanted To.

    Stars Are Huge Balls Of Hot Gas That Emit Their Own Light . A Planet Is A World Like The Earth. Unlike Stars, Planets Get Their Light From The Sun Which Is Considered The Largest Star.

  10. it's arguable, and I do see your point, you see stars are huge balls of gases which fuse together elements, which when they die they release those elements which in turn create other heavenly bodies like PLANETS. So yes I see why you would ask that questions because earth itself is composed entirely of elements that were created in a whole other star, in a whole other nebula which also helped create our Sun. So, no a planet is not a star because it's not a burning ball of gas, but yes we are made out of the remnants of other stars.

  11. no but pluto which was considered a planet is now considered a star

  12. Nope.

    To be a star you have to be outputting a h**l of a lot more energy. To be a star you have to be like a massive nuclear bomb or reactor going off out off control 24-7. Except inside a star its really the complete opposite of what happens when you drop your atom bomb! In the hydrogen bomb atoms are being split appart (fission) in a star atoms are being joined together (fusion).

    To a planet you have to be the corpsey remains of a dead star. Specifically one that has ran out of fuel (turned into iron) and because it has no more fuel to burn it can no longer balance its own immense gravitational pull and it collapse down onto itself. NOW! Two thinsg can happen:-

    option 1: you shrink into nothingness and become a black hole where your gravity is soooo f***ing strong you warp the very fabric of the universe about yourself!

    option 2: a super-nova - a beast of an explosion! KABOOOOM!!!! The sort of thing that creates new baby stars and planets - like us planet Earth, or gas giants like Jupiter.

    soo... all of our (comparitivly) exciting earthly elements here like carbon, phosphate, oxygen, the metals etc. all started off as hydrogens that underwent fussion in a star once!

    Hope that helps!

  13. No the earth is a Planet... The Sun is a Star....

    A star supplies it's own light, is mostly fire..

    planet is mostly rock, reflects light.....

  14. No. It's a planet.  Is a fish a tree?

  15. No offense, but you should have figured this out with common sense..

    Anyways, a planet is not a star. To simply put it, a star is a big ball of gas in space. Our sun is a star.

    You can learn about stars by looking in books, encyclopedias, and the internet! =\

  16. Nope, stars are burning bodies of gases and such. Planets are a bit more. They're usually  defined as something... well...not on fire, they also display unique characteristics while star are a bit more uniform or at least follow a relatively patterned course.

  17. A planet isn't a star. It reflects light from a star but it isn't one. Stars emit their own light. Planets don't.

  18. No.  A planet and a star are two very different things.  I'd explain, but you can just as easily look it up in a dictionary or encyclopedia.

  19. No, it's not.

    A planet is a large ball of matter that revolves around a star.  For instance, the Earth is a planet, because it revolves around the Sun (which is a star), and meets some other technical requirements.

    A star is a very large ball of gases that are burning (actually, they are fusing, like a hydrogen bomb).

    It can be confusing, because in the sky, some of the planets that revolve around the Sun can be seen, and they just look like very bright stars -- and the planet Venus is even sometimes called "the morning star" or "the evening star".

  20. no;a planet is basically made of craters pulled by a strong magnetic field to create a planet.

  21. Stars are huge balls of hot gas that emit their own light . Stars burn hydrogen in their cores and have nuclear fusion going on inside. A planet does not have nuclear fusion. A planet is a world like the Earth. Unlike stars, planets get their light from the Sun.

  22. No, planets are bodies in orbit around stars. Stars are large spheres of mostly hydrogen, undergoing nuclear fusion.

  23. ...no a planet is a planet... a star ..............is a star

  24. Certainly not.

    Planets circle around a star.

    The sun is a star.

    The earth is a planet that revolves around it.

    A star, together with everything revolving around it is called a solar system.

  25. nop,

    the sun is a star. it burns and emits light.

    the earth and mars are planets. do not emit any light.

  26. no well the star is ashining plant but there is atheory that there was abig star that exploded and then plants appeared

  27. No but I know exactly what it is.  It is a flying coconut that was painted different colors by a goldfish wizard in the midst of night on april 2, 1423. so go eat your soup

  28. Noooo... the Sun is a star, Earth and all the other ummm planets that orbit it are... ummm planets! :)

  29. Nope, a planet is not a star.

    Stars are balls of mostly hydrogen and helium gas that shines extremely brightly. Stars consist mainly of hydrogen and helium, with varying amounts of heavier elements.

    The only reason a planet may appear to be a star is from a distance when it reflects light. Although it does not produce it's own light like a true star.

  30. A planet can be a star (like Venus.) It depends on how much light is reflected by the object and if you can see it or not from where you are.

    As a rule of thumb, if a star has a steady light, it is a "sun" and if it twinkles it is a planet.

  31. The Sun is a star. Earth is a planet.

    The basic difference between a star and a planet is that a star emits light produced in its interior by nuclear 'burning', whereas a planet only shines by reflected light.
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