planetary bodies News

planetary bodies News From AOL News

Asteroid Double Whammy? Just for Show, This Time ...

(Sept. 7) -- They're coming our way ... both of them! Two asteroids will narrowly miss colliding with Earth on Wednesday, according to NASA. Fortunately, neither is very big, nor are they expected to do much more than provide skywatchers with a brief, breathtaking sight before they continue their voyage into the oblivion....

Mars Big as Moon Tonight? Top 5 Astronomy Hoaxes

(Aug. 27) -- In case you were wondering, Mars, which is normally roughly the size of any star in the night sky, will not appear to be as big as the moon tonight, as alleged in a recent e-mail making the rounds. The chain letter belongs to a long line of astronomical hoaxes, five of which are listed below, including one...

Background on planetary bodies

A planet () is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.

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