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During the night we see millions of shining dots in the sky. These dots are nothing but stars and planets.
Now, many people don’t understand the difference between the stars and planets. People just know that stars twinkle and planets don’t. Well, this is correct but there are so many other features that make stars and planets different from one another.
Both the stars and planets have some mind-blowing unique properties. In this article, we will tell you the meaning and the key differences between stars and planets. Don’t forget the amazing facts that we are going to provide.
Stars
Stars are huge celestial bodies that can emit light and energy. They are made up of hydrogen and helium. The light is emitted due to the nuclear fusion reaction churning inside their cores.
There are billions of stars in the universe. Although it’s impossible to count how many stars are there, research done by astronomers suggests that there are about 300 billion stars alone in the Milky Way galaxy.
You will be surprised to know that the lifespan of stars is a billion years. Although massive stars have a shorter lifespan.
The dust and gas present in the galaxy gives birth to the stars. These dust and gas collide and collapse due to gravity and form stars. Although this process takes around a million years.
Planets
Planets are celestial bodies that orbit around the Sun. Apart from this planets must satisfy these two conditions:
- It must have sufficient mass in order to maintain its self-gravity
- This will help planet to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape
- The neighbourhood around the orbit of the planet should be cleared
You need to understand that there has been constant debate around the definition of planets. Some think that this definition is only limited to the number of planets while others think that it is incomplete.
You can also just define planets like this: A natural object in space that is massive enough for gravity to make it approximately spherical. Although again there is a lot of debate around this definition as well since it is very generic.
This definition does not consider the degree of measurable roundness that the planet needs to have.
Planets do not have an external source of light. They instead reflect light from the sun. They also do not twinkle like stars.
Difference between Stars and Planets
Stars | Planets |
Meaning | |
Stars are huge celestial bodies made up of hydrogen and helium that can emit their light and energy from nuclear fusion reactions. | Planets are celestial bodies that orbit around the Sun. They don’t have the ability to emit light and energy from nuclear fusion reactions. |
Size | |
Stars are bigger than planets. | Planets are smaller than stars |
Temperature | |
Stars are made up of huge gas balls that have high temperatures. | Planets have low temperatures. |
Twinkle | |
Due to atmospheric refraction, they twinkle. | They don’t have the ability to twinkle. |
Matter | |
They are made up of Hydrogen, Helium, and other light elements. | They are made up of solids, liquids, gases, or a combination thereon. |
Position | |
Due to substantial distance, the position of the stars changes. | Planets move in orbit around the Sun on their own axis. Due to this, their positions are constantly changing. |
Conclusion
After reading this article you might have a clear understanding of what exactly are stars and planets and what are their key differences. You might have also discovered some new facts about them. The main difference between them is that stars twinkle and planets don’t have the ability to twinkle. Also, planets orbit around the Sun while stars don’t.
Another distinguishing feature is that stars are made up of hydrogen and helium while planets are made up of solids, liquids, gases, or a combination of the above three things. So, now when you look at the sky in the night you know a lot of things about the stars and planets.
