outer planet

noun

: any of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune whose orbits lie beyond the asteroid belt

Examples of outer planet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The timing of Jupiter's opposition is caused by the differing speeds of Earth, an inner planet 93 miles from the sun, and Jupiter, which is an outer planet 484 million miles from the sun. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024 But scientists who study the outer planets face severe disadvantages compared with those who study our planetary neighbors. David W. Brown, The New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2024 The gravity of the large outer planets, specifically Jupiter for 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, can impact the trajectories of comets, Cooke says. Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Oct. 2024 The first mission to orbit an outer planet from pole to pole, Juno is armored with a titanium radiation vault to help protect it against Jupiter’s intense radiation belts. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for outer planet 

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of outer planet was in 1850

Dictionary Entries Near outer planet

Cite this Entry

“Outer planet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outer%20planet. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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