superior planet

superior planet

noun Astronomy.
any of the five planets whose orbits are outside the orbit of the earth, namely, the planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.


Origin:
1575–85; i.e., superior in distance from the sun
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Superior planet is always a great word to know.
So is companion. Does it mean:
a celestial body with a mass of gas that is hot enough to produce and sustain nuclear fusion, thus producing luminosity
the fainter of the two stars that constitute a double or binary star
Collins
World English Dictionary
superior planet
 
n
any of the planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and (formerly) Pluto) whose orbit lies outside that of the earth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
superior planet  
Any of the planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, whose orbits lie beyond that of Earth. Because these planets never come between the Earth and Sun, they do not exhibit crescent phases, only full and gibbous. Unlike the inferior planets Mercury and Venus, superior planets rise in the east and set in the west in the normal pattern of celestial objects. Compare inferior planet. See also inner planet.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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