Quote:
Originally Posted by erick
Doesn't a "planet", by definition, orbit a "star"?
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Erick, I agree.
Planet (I think the word has Greek origin, and means "wandering star") is an object orbiting a star, if we stick to a historic definition - and I strongly support that idea.
For lone objects that are not quite stars but they emit their own light (or radiation in a broader sense) there are more suitable names like "failed stars" or "brown dwarfs" or whatever...
Now there is a possibility that there are "planets" - dark, cold, rocky or ice bodies - that are not orbiting (any more) any other, more massive object, and perhaps in the future we will be able to detect them.
But for now, lets not confuse the things.... Planets orbit their stars. Even that is quite the departure from original definition (because old Greeks meant only bodies that are orbiting our star, Sol)
