Difference Between Planet and Satellite
What is Planet?
A planet is a body orbiting a star that is large enough to be surrounded by its own gravity and does not cause a thermonuclear reaction.
We must know that Earth, Mars, and Jupiter are planets. But Pluto and Cyrus were once considered planets until new discoveries sparked scientific debate about how best to describe them – and still do today. The latest definition of a planet was adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2006. A planet must do three things:
- It must orbit a star (in our universe, the Sun).
- It must be large enough to have the necessary gravity to push it into a sphere.
- It must be large enough that its gravitational pull deflects any other object of similar size around its orbit and around the Sun.
What about planets in other places?
This definition focuses on our own solar system. But there are planets in other places besides our solar system. These planets are called exoplanets. Like the planets in our own solar system, they can be seen orbiting the stars. Does this mean that all planets are formed in the same way? Are all planets formed from the remains of a single star?
It depends on who you are talking to. What happens when a sphere is formed due to the gravity of a small gas field flowing in the middle? Is that also a planet? After all, Jupiter is a giant sphere of gas. Both are just a bunch of things that are not enough to make a bright and fiery star.
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Are Planets big or tiny Star?
Clouds of gas that do not contain enough material to form a bright star always accumulate in the sphere. Often these clouds turn into a type of star called a brown dwarf. They are much larger than most planets, but they are not large enough to become stars that generate a lot of energy and light.
But scientists have recently discovered a small gaseous element. It is red in color than most brown dwarfs and much smaller than most of them. The object would have formed from a small gas cloud like a brown dwarf. Or it may have been built around a star, which somehow flew into space.
Some scientists call this object a planet. Others think it could only become a planet if it formed around a star. If it formed from a cloud of gas, they thought it was not a star at all.
What is Satellite?
A satellite is an object in orbit around a larger object in space and two there are two kinds of satellites are natural and artificial.
A Satellite can also be a moon, planet or machine that orbits other planets or stars. For example, the Earth is a Moon because it orbits the Sun. Similarly, the Moon is also a satellite as it orbits the Earth. Typically, the term “satellite” is used to refer to the Earth or any other body orbiting in space.
Earthand Moon are examples of natural moons. More than Thousands of artificial or man-made satellites orbit the Earth. Some take pictures of the planet which help meteorologists predict the weather and track storms. Some take pictures of other planets, such as the Sun, black holes, dark matter or distant galaxies.
Other satellites are mainly used around the world for communications such as TV signals and phone calls. A team of more than 20 satellites make up the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Why are satellites important?
Satellites are important because they can view like a bird and see large areas of the earth at one time. This capability means that satellites can collect more data faster than the devices on Earth.
Satellites can be seen in space more than telescopes on the Earth’s surface. This is because the moon can fly through clouds, dust and molecules in the atmosphere.
TV signals did not travel very far before the moons. TV signals travel only in a straight line. So instead of following the curvature of the Earth, they will move faster into space. Sometimes they are blocked by mountains or tall buildings. Phone calls to distant places were also a problem. Telephone wiring is difficult to install over long distances or underwater and can be very costly.
TV signals and phone calls are transmitted over a satellite using satellites. Soon, the satellite will be able to send them back to different parts of the earth.
What are the parts of a satellite?
The moons come in many shapes and sizes and most have two parts in common – an antenna and a power source. Antennas often send and receive information to and from the ground. The source energy source can be a solar panel or a battery. Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity.
Many of NASA’s satellites carry cameras and scientific sensors. Sometimes these devices point to the earth to collect information about the earth, air, and water. At other times they go into space to gather information from the solar system and the universe.
How do moons orbit the earth?
Most satellites are launched by rockets. A satellite orbits the earth when its speed is balanced by the Earth’s gravitational field. Without this balance, the satellite will fly into space in a straight line or fall to Earth. The moons orbit the earth at different heights, at different speeds, and at different orbits. The two most common orbits are “geostationary” (geo-o-stay-shun-air-e) and “polar”.
A geostationary satellite orbits the equator from west to east. It moves in the same direction and the earth rotates at the same speed. From Earth, a geostationary satellite seems to be stationary because it is always above the same position.
Polar-orbiting moons move north-south from pole to pole. As the Earth rotates downward, these moons can scan the entire globe one strip at a time.
What is the difference between Planet and satellite?
The main difference between a planet and a moon is that the planet is a celestial sphere in which a star or stellar debris orbits directly. The satellite is a man-made object placed in orbit.
| Planet | Satellite |
| By modern definitions, any celestial body orbiting a star can be classified as a planet. | Natural and artificial moons orbit planets or other relatively large celestial bodies. |
| The planet’s axis is bent at an angle to the equatorial plane of its star. This causes the amount of light received in the hemisphere to vary during the period of its rotation. | It is believed that satellites orbiting planets in circular orbits are believed to have formed from a collision between two celestial bodies. |
| The word “planet” is derived from the Greek word, that is “planon”. | The word ‘satellite’ is derived from the Latin word ‘satellites’, which means ‘follow’ or ‘participate’. |
| Planets revolve around invisible axes around their centers. Most of the planets in the Solar System revolve around the Sun. | The natural moons of the solar system are associated with the respective planet, that is, the same side of the natural moon is always towards its planet. |
| The large size of the planet causes the dominance of gravity rather than electromagnetic force. This causes hydrostatic imbalance. | Depending on the gravitational pull of the planet to reach orbit, the mass of the moons will always be smaller than that of the planets. |
| Examples of planets are Earth, Jupiter and Saturn. | Examples of moons are the Moon orbiting Earth, Titan orbiting Saturn, and Europa orbiting Jupiter. |
Takshila learning helps you understand the difference between a planet and a satellite and explains the same with clear examples. The experts at Takshila learning are people with lot of experience and they guide the students better in all subjects and concepts.
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