There are five main differences between planets and stars. We will get into the details of each one, but in a few words, these are:. The very definition of a planet states that for a planet to be classified as such, it must be found orbiting a star just like Earth orbits around the Sun. Stars have a greater mass than planets. While the opposite could theoretically happen have a star orbit around a planet , the laws of physics make it almost impossible and such system has never been found. Some definitions state that stars are stationary while planets orbit around them.
This is incorrect because stars are also moving around the center of their galaxies. It also fails to account for multi-star systems. These have more than one star and they are sometimes circling around each other or one might even be orbiting the other. Plasma is the fourth fundamental state of matter after solid liquid and gas. Plasma can be hard to explain as it is not easy to visualize it and the definition can be confusing.
Think of it like really hot gas that starts conducting electricity. A lightning bolt is an example of plasma. The nuclear reactions happening in the core of stars make it so hot that most of it becomes plasma. On the other hand, planets can be made of many different elements.
For example, Mars is made of rock and ice while Jupiter and Saturn are mostly made of gas and only a small rocky core. While plasma can be found on some planets, especially on very hot ones, it is not their main component.
Stars are bright and it is possible for them to emit light because of the nuclear reaction happening in them. Planets are made of much colder elements that for the most part do not generate light. The reason why we can see planets from Earth is the same reason why we can see the Moon. They are reflecting the light from the Sun. In the case of distant planets, they also reflect the light from their own stars.
If you want to get very specific, there are some exceptions to this rule. Stars have that glow constantly as they are readily having nuclear reactions, which are caused by the fusion of Hydrogen and Helium gasses.
These reactions also become a source of light that is emitted by the Stars, which in turn help with visibility in the solar system. The closest star to earth is the sun, which stands at a distance of Million KM from the planet. Planets Planets are massive bodies of mass and gasses that revolve and rotate around a star. This revolution is definite, and the planet follows a set orbit around a star.
In the solar system, there are two types of planets, inner planets and outer planets. The inner planets lie inside the asteroid belt and are smaller in size and the outer planets lie outside the asteroid belt and are larger in size. The inner planets constitution includes solid elements mainly, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the inner planets. The outer planets constitution includes gasses mainly, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune that are the outer planets. Stars are composed of gases that undergo continuous nuclear reaction and hence they are radiant and have light of their own but on the other hand, planets are not gaseous and they are a mixture of gases liquids, and solids and they do not have the light of their own.
Some planets have high temperatures due to the close proximity to a star and the planets which are further away from the star have very low temperatures.
Stars are very huge compared to planets. For example in our solar system, the Sun has a radius of , km compared to a radius of 6, Km of earth. This means the sun has a diameter that is almost times greater than that of Earth. Nuclear reactions are always followed by the production of heat and light so these stars have very high temperatures and produce light.
On the other hand, planets do not have light of the own. When we see stars in a clear dark sky we can see them twinkling. Stars process a twinkling effect but planets do not show any twinkling effect. Planets generally do have a definite shape and are generally spheroids but stars on the other hand are gaseous and are shaped like a dot.
Like for example, our Earth is a spheroid. Stars are composed of elements like Hydrogen and Helium which are very light elements with an atomic number of 1 and 2 and planets are composed of a combination of solid-liquid and gases.
Stars look to be stationary but they also move at high speeds. Each star orbits the galaxy center like for example our sun in our solar system also orbits around a specific location in the galaxy. On the other hand planets orbit around a star. Stars have a very high speed compared to the speed of planets. Home Animation Quiz. Sign in. Forgot your password?
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