inferior planet, planet whose orbit lies inside that of the earth. There are two inferior planets, Mercury and Venus. They always seem to be close to the sun in the sky; the greatest elongation of Mercury is 28°, and that of Venus, 47°. For this reason, neither can be seen for more than two or three hours after sunset or before sunrise.
inferior planet
| WordNet: inferior planet |
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
any of the planets whose orbit lies inside the earth's orbit
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 | crescent phase (astronomy) |
| dichotomy |
| egress |
Help us answer these
 | Why is Venus the brightest inferior planet? |
| What are all the inferior planets? |
| Is pluto an inferior or superior planet? |
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 | Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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| WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more |
Related answers
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- What is the difference between the inferior planets and the superior planets?
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- The inferior planets?
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Mentioned in
- crescent phase (astronomy)
- dichotomy
- egress
- Retrograde motion (astronomy)
- inferior
- conjunction
- Ellen Glasgow (literature)
- Inferior and superior planets
- Transit (astronomy)
- Opposition (planets)
- Elongation (astronomy)
- Spherical astronomy
- Orbital period
- Ecliptic
