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105 bytes added ,  02:34, March 14, 2012
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[[File:Venus and Jupiter 2012.jpg|thumb|280px|Venus and Jupiter conjunction in night sky, March, 2012.]]
 
A '''planet''' is an astronomical body that is in [[orbit]] around a [[star]], that has sufficient mass for its own [[gravity]] to overcome rigid body forces, assumes an approximately spherical shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit <ref>http://www.iau.org/iau0603.414.0.html</ref>, i.e. has "swept out" the area around its orbit during its formation, accreting into its mass all other smaller bodies within its orbit. Consequently, a planet does not share its orbital region with any other bodies of significant size, except for its satellites or those collected later by virtue of its gravitational field.  
 
A '''planet''' is an astronomical body that is in [[orbit]] around a [[star]], that has sufficient mass for its own [[gravity]] to overcome rigid body forces, assumes an approximately spherical shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit <ref>http://www.iau.org/iau0603.414.0.html</ref>, i.e. has "swept out" the area around its orbit during its formation, accreting into its mass all other smaller bodies within its orbit. Consequently, a planet does not share its orbital region with any other bodies of significant size, except for its satellites or those collected later by virtue of its gravitational field.