Tag: solar system

• Spherical Celestial Bodies and the Potato Radius

  The potato radius is the approximate size threshold of a celestial object where an object's gravity compresses the object into a sphere. This is 200 to 300 kilometres in radius depending on the density of the object.

  The Earth’s moon, Pluto and Ceres are spherical.

  Only Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, is spherical whilst Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra are elongated.

  Phobos and Deimos are the two moons of Mars which are irregular rocky satellites. Phobos is 22 km wide with an orbital distance of 6000 km and Deimos is 12 km wide with an orbital distance of 20,000 km.

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  27 August 2026