gas giant en · NOUN
Etymology
From gas + giant, coined by American science-fiction writer James Blish and first attested in 1952 in a rewritten version of his 1941 short story Solar Plexus.
Meanings
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A large planet composed mostly of gaseous hydrogen and helium, along with methane and ammonia; possibly with a solid core.
In the past two years, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has located nearly 3,000 exoplanet candidates ranging from sub-Earth-sized minions to gas giants that dwarf our own Jupiter.
2013 May-June, Kevin Heng, “Why Does Nature Form Exoplanets Easily?”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 184:A quick glance over the boards revealed that there was a magnetic field of some strength near by, one that didn't belong to the invisible gas giant revolving half a million miles away.
1954, James Blish, “Solar Plexus”, in Beyond Human Ken, Random House, page 106:Altanorch is a small but typical hydrogen-helium gas giant with no outstanding features. Its combination of strong magnetic field and relatively shallow gravity well make it a popular "stopover" world for discharging FTL drive cores.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Altanorch:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| gas giants | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
carbon planet · terrestrial planet · silicon planet · carbide planet · silicate planet · rocky planet · major planet
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Relateds
minor planet · Neptune · Uranus · ice giant · dwarf planet
Synonyms
Jovian planet · gas giant planet
Translations (22)
hu gázóriás (large planet of gas) · hi गैस दानव (large planet of gas) · es gigante gaseoso (large planet of gas) · cmn 氣態巨行星 /气态巨行星 (large planet of gas) · fo gassknøttur (large planet of gas) · sw pandikizi la gesi (large planet of gas) · pt gigante gasoso (large planet of gas) · ja 巨大ガス惑星 (large planet of gas) · el πλανήτης γίγαντας (large planet of gas) · pl gazowy olbrzym (large planet of gas) · de Gasplanet (large planet of gas) · de Gasriese (large planet of gas) · ru га́зовая плане́та (large planet of gas) · ru га́зовый гига́нт (large planet of gas) · fr géante gazeuse (large planet of gas) · fi kaasujättiläinen (large planet of gas) · el αέριος γίγαντας (large planet of gas) · sv gasjätte (large planet of gas) · eo gasogiganto (large planet of gas) · sl plínski velikán (large planet of gas) · hu gázbolygó (large planet of gas) · uk га́зовий гіга́нт (large planet of gas)