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Is it possible for a satellite to be a planet too?

11 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    This is a difficult question to answer if considering certain scenarios.

    In a way, yes, planets fit the definition of a satellite in reference to the Sun and moons fit the definition in relation to planets. So in this instance a planet could also be considered a satellite.

    However, an smaller body orbiting a larger does not qualify that body as a planet. The definition of a planet is generally contested but typically holds at lest these features. A body that is large enough to have its own gravity to make it spherical, orbits a star (such as the Sun), has cleared the area around it of smaller bodies, does not have enough mass to start thermonuclear reactions.

    An example of a satellite that orbits the sun and has its own satellites is seen in the asteroids Ida and Dactyl in that Dactyl is in orbit around Ida, but Ida is not classified as a planet.

  • 1 decade ago

    In the strict sense of the term, there are already satellites that are planets. Obviously the 8 primary planets that orbit the Sun including the Trans-Neptunian Objects and Kuipier Belt Objects are all satellites of the Sun. Various moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn also carry planetary status and are, by definition, satellites.

    Can we build a planet sized satellite, sure, in the future with enough time and material. Can a moon or planet (such as Mercury) come here and become a satellite/moon? Sure, not likely, but it is possible.

  • Irv S
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    It's just a word. Depends how you use it.

    The Earth and the other planets are 'satellites' of the sun.

    We have launched some objects clear of earth that have taken up solar orbits.

    Since the big Pluto debate, a "Planet" has to be rather larger than

    anything we can build, now, or in the forseeable future to carry the name..

    .

  • 1 decade ago

    Yes, it is. The planets (including the Earth) are satellites of our Sun.

    A satellite is: "Any object in orbit about some body capable of exerting a gravitational force."

    .

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  • Tom S
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    No. By definition a satellite orbits a planet and a planet orbits a star.

  • 1 decade ago

    Egg Salad Sandwiches can be satellites too but it depends on the egg to planet ratio.

  • 1 decade ago

    no by definition a planet "dominates its local space", meaning that it cannot orbit another object. This doesn't mean a satellite couldn't be full of life, while its 'parent planet' is void of life.

  • 1 decade ago

    Yes, Earth would be considered a satellite of the Sun.

  • Yes technically all objects in the sky are satellites but i think you mean orbiting the earth so if that is is highly unlikey.

  • 1 decade ago

    No

    That is why Pluto is no longer a planet

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