inferior planet

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inferior planet

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.

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inferior planet

A Dictionary of Astronomy | 1997 | Â© A Dictionary of Astronomy 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

inferior planet A planet whose orbit is closer to the Sun (and hence smaller in radius) than that of the Earth (i.e. Mercury or Venus).

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