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Planets' orbits are all forms of conic section, the curve formed by intersecting a plane with a symmetrical circular cone.

The shape of a conic section is defined by a parameter called eccentricity, written as e. In order of eccentricity the four orbital shapes are: circles (e=0), ellipses (0<e<1), parabolas (e=1) and hyperbolas (e>1). Planets' orbits are ellipses with e less than 0.1, so they are approximately circular. You can only get a hyperbolic orbit with a body coming in at high speed from outside the solar system, which is extremely rare.

You can make conic sections by shining a torch on a wall (a torch with a old fashioned bulb, not LEDs). It produces a cone of light, and the wall gives the intersection, so on the wall you can create those four shapes. Shining it straight at the wall gives a circle, slightly off gives an ellipse, then with one side of the cone parallel to the wall you get a parabola, and turning it further creates a hyperbola.

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11y ago
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4mo ago

Planets are generally spherical in shape due to their own gravity pulling inward equally in all directions, causing them to form a roughly round shape. However, some planets may have slight deviations from a perfect sphere due to factors such as rotation speed or composition.

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16y ago

All planets are essentially Spherical. This is because gravity compacts mass as tightly as possible, and a Sphere has the greatest volume for a given size of object.

It is worth noting, however, that if a planet is liquid enough (gas giants, hot terrestrial planets), and spinning fast enough, the planet will be wider across the equator than through the poles.

Saturn is visibly oblate (the equator is 10% wider than the polar diameter).

It is unlikely that a planet could be much more oblate than that. If Saturn spun much faster (11 hours per day), it would simply fly apart.

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16y ago

We are learning this right now in Earth Science in 8th grade, and our book says it is an elongated circle, or an oval.

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15y ago

The planets are all round in shape, but they differ in sizes.

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12y ago

Every planet looks different!

They look different in shape, size and colour!

If you really want to know search them up in Google images!

Hope my answer helped!

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Wiki User

13y ago

just like an Orange

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8y ago

An ellipse, with the sun at one focus.

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Wiki User

14y ago

Spherical

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Anonymous

Lvl 1
4y ago

The sun is kinda oval when u zoom in that's what I seen

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Q: What is the shape of all planets?
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Related questions

What is the typiccall shape of the planets?

Planets are all spherical.


What are the characterstics of Planets?

all planets have a circular shape


What shape are planet?

The inner planets have a spherical shape. In fact all planets are more or less spherical.


Which planets orbital shape is similar to Jupiter?

All planets in our solar system have elliptical orbits.


Is there a planet that is a rectangular shape?

No all planets are almost perfect spheres


What is the shape of Neptune's path?

all of the planets have the same elliptical shaped orbit.


Are all planets and stars shape like circle?

All planets and stars are approximately spherical in shape, a shape formed under their own gravity. Most are `oblate` spheroids though, squashed spheres, since their rotation can cause them to `bulge` out at the equator if it is sufficient enough.


What is the shape of a planets orbit and in which direction do all planets revolve?

Planets orbit in an elliptical shape around the Sun, with the Sun located at one of the foci of the ellipse. All planets in our solar system revolve counterclockwise when viewed from above the Sun's north pole.


What is the shape of all 8 planets in our solar system?

The 8 planets in our solar system are mostly spherical in shape due to their gravitational forces pulling them into a roughly spherical form. However, factors such as rotation and composition can lead to some variations in shape.


What is the shape of neptue's orbit?

As with all the planets, the orbit of Neptune is a nearly circular ellipse.


What shape do you think the universe is?

Since all of the planets, and moons, and stars seem to have a spherical shape, it is possible that the universe may be a sphere.


Which planets has more of a spherical shape?

There are two planets with an almost perfectly spherical shape. They are Mercury and Venus.