Difference between stars and planets: Learn to distinguish between celestial bodies

Humans live in a humongous solar system where there a plethora of planetary bodies that are present with different features in characteristics. It includes planets, stars, asteroids among other celestial objects. Many people don’t know how to distinguish between star and planet, how they are, how they behave, and what their characteristics are. This guide will help people learn the difference between Stars and Planets.

Difference between Stars and Planets

To distinguish between Star and Planet the people should first check out their definitions to get an idea about the celestial bodies. Here are the definitions for Stars and Planets:

Stars

• Stars are like glowing bodies and the glow is caused by a cluster of plasma that is held together by its own gravitational force. Stars have that glow constantly as they are readily having nuclear reactions, which are caused by the fusion of Hydrogen and Helium gasses. These reactions also become a source of light that is emitted by the Stars, which in turn help with visibility in the solar system. Stars are stationary bodies; they don’t revolve or rotate around anything. The closest star to earth is the sun, which stands at a distance of 150 Million KM from the planet.

Planets

• Planets are massive bodies of mass and gasses that revolve and rotate around a star. This revolution is definite, and the planet follows a set orbit around a star. In the solar system, there are two types of planets, inner planets and outer planets. The inner planets lie inside the asteroid belt and are smaller in size and the outer planets lie outside the asteroid belt and are larger in size. The inner planets constitution includes solid elements mainly, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the inner planets. The outer planets constitution includes gasses mainly, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune that are the outer planets.

How does a Planet differ from a Star?

Planets and stars have many differentiating qualities that make them their own types of special bodies. Check out this table to learn how does a planet differ from a star: