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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Solar System & Planets

Gas giant

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

nounCommon term

In astronomy & space, gas giant means: A very large planet made mostly of hydrogen and helium, with no solid surface to stand on. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of our solar system.

In Turkish: gaz devi

How it is used

Used in planetary science and exoplanet research. Uranus and Neptune are often called 'ice giants' because they contain more water, ammonia and methane ices. 'Hot Jupiters' are gas giants that orbit very close to their stars.

Example sentences

  1. Many of the first exoplanets discovered were gas giants orbiting close to their stars.

  2. A spacecraft cannot land on a gas giant because it has no solid surface.

Common collocations

  • gas giant planet
  • ice giant
  • hot Jupiter
  • the gas giants
  • planetA large, round object that orbits a star, shines only by reflected light and is massive enough to have cleared other large bodies from its orbit.
  • exoplanetA planet that orbits a star other than the Sun. The first one around a Sun-like star was found in 1995, and thousands are known today.
  • solar systemThe Sun and everything that orbits it: eight planets and their moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, dust and gas.
  • moonA natural object that orbits a planet or a dwarf planet. Written as 'the Moon', it means Earth's only natural satellite.

More terms: Solar System & Planets

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