why do all the planets seem perfectly spherical to look at?

Answer 1

I don't know, but it is interesting if you can find out..

Answer 2

Gravity tends to pull any body into a spherical shape. If it is small enough, the strength of the rock that makes it up can resist gravity and maintain an odd shape. You see this in some asteroids. But at the size of a planet, even solid rock is not strong enough to resist gravity and the planet assumes a spherical shape as if it were a giant drop of water in space. This is called "hydrostatic equilibrium" the the jargon of science.

Answer 3

It's simply a matter of mass, when an celestial object reaches a certain size gravity causes the object to be pulled into a roughly spherical shape. I say "roughly" because planets can "bulge" at their equator due to the centrifugal forces caused as they rotate.

Answer 4

Because the Almighty Bruce aka GOD, created it like that!

I believe it has more to do with the atmosphere and the rotation of the planet Because as we all know Earth is not a perfect circle. But like any object that you spin at a high speed the gaps a filled in and they apear circular as long as they are spinning at the optimal speed. Try it.
Get a quarter and spin it, it looks round does it not?

Thank you, I'll be here all week...no no thank you you're too kind...

Answer 5

They are spherical, its the compression of gravity acting down onto the planets

Answer 6

From space the Earth looks like a smooth marble but stand at the base of the Himalaya mountains or the edge of the Grand Canyon and you will realize what distance does to perspective.

Answer 7

Actually, several of the planets do _not_ appear to be spherical. Jupiter and Saturn, and to a lesser extent Uranus and Neptune, are noticeably wider at the equator than they are pole to pole, due to their gaseous makeup and their rapid rotation.

Answer 8

It's a trick of the eye. When you see footage of Earth from space it looks perfectly round, but you know that there are mountains and valleys etc. that make it all go zig-zag around the edges, but because it is viewed from so far away the eye perceives it to be smoother shape, roughly perfect to what it is.

Answer 9

Gravity pulls their mass towards the center. However, they tend to have an ellipsoid shape, slightly larger at the equator.

Kind of like a large ball, slightly pressed down between the poles, bulging outward, due to rotation.

Answer 10

Because they all have gravity that is pulling the matter to the center of the planet, thus giving it the round shape.

Answer 11

Have you been looking through telescopes again. They all look spherical through telescopes but they are actully eliptic. Saturn is and so is our planet.