A "planet" that would float on water?

Question

This address http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060914/ap_on_sc/puffy_planet details a planet so "puffy" it would float on water.

For some reason, I always thought of planets as big round things that could actually support weight, but this seems to indicate otherwise.

So can someone give me a precise definition of planet? This thing seems to be made of hydrogen and helium - so what makes it a planet?

Thanks!

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Answer 1

It just means the specific density of the planet is less than 1 (water). Saturn has a specific gravity of 0.83 (+/- .02) so it would float in water as well.

A planet is a body in space in orbit around a star, with a size that satisfies the arbitrary minimum set by the international astronomical union. It should also orbit it's star in a plane that closely matches other members of the star system - Pluto has a high degree of inclination, and thus annoyed the IAU.

Answer 2

There certainly is a planet that will float on water, if you can find an ocean large enough to handle it. That planet is Saturn. The mass of it is what makes it a planet, and it is composed of mainly hydrogen and helium. And since both of those elements are lighter than water, Saturn will float.

Answer 3

New planet definition ‘by 2009’

NEW DELHI, Sept. 14: “Dethroning” Pluto from being a planet and categorising it into a new class of celestial objects was the only logical option before the scientists, a noted Indian astronomer, who voted against Pluto being a planet, opined and said the definition of planets is expected to get more refined by the next meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2009.
Delivering a lecture, ‘Pluto: The dethroned planet’, Prof Rajesh Kochhar, who is a member of the IAU, said the choice before the astronomical community in the last month meeting in Prague was two-fold ~ “should the number of planets be reduced to and frozen at eight? Or , should the number be permitted to go from nine to ten to 20 to so on in the years to come?”
The IAU voted on 24 August to freeze the number of planets at eight and introduce a new class of objects “dwarf planets”, he said. “Pluto appeared to be a joker in the club of planets. It has now been restored to the respectability of the membership of its own social class,” he said.
However, unhappy over the new term, he said “I raised this question. The IAU was conscious of the public dimension of Pluto issue. It acted under the pressure of time.” n SNS

Answer 4

Saturn is the only planet that is un-dense enough to float in water. Mhmm. Yeppers. It's a planet becasue it travels in a circular ellipse. Pluto crosses over into Neptune's orbit and is too oval-y and got deleted as a planet and now it is a dwarf planet as is UB 3 something-or-other.

Answer 5

A planet is an object that orbits a star, is big enough so that it's gravity pulled it in to a sphere, and has cleared it's orbit of other bodies.
Ever since I was a kid they have been saying that Saturn would float if you could place it on water.

Answer 6

Im assuming that it is something like a gas giant. We know several gas giants by the names of Jupiter and Saturn. They are made, if I am not mistaken, mostly of gasses that surround a small, solid nucleus. Im assuming that perhaps this planet is similar in makeup except that the gasses are just so completely light that it is less dense than H2O. Im sure I am way off though, its just a guess.

Answer 7

This is merely a picturesque way of saying that the planet's density is less than water's. May I suggest a quick personal reference to Wikipedia before going public?.

Answer 8

think of it this way-a single sponge floats in a single pot of water.get more sponges and more pots of water.they all float.now glue them all together into a big sponge ball and float them in a pool of water.a bunch of sponges as big as a planet would still float as long as there was a pool big enough,right?in the same way,this planet is made up of material that is lighter than water so it would float if there was a pool big enough for it to float in. ;)

Answer 9

Planets must revolve around the sun is some specific way...that is why pluto has been deleted-doesn't go in that way

Answer 10

Planets all start as large balls of gas. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus are all gas planets.