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Concept
Terrestrial planet
Summary
A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet, is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets accepted by the IAU are the inner planets closest to the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Among astronomers who use the geophysical definition of a planet, two or three planetary-mass satellites – Earth's Moon, Io, and sometimes Europa – may also be considered terrestrial planets; and so may be the rocky protoplanet-asteroids Pallas and Vesta. The terms "terrestrial planet" and "telluric planet" are derived from Latin words for Earth (Terra and Tellus), as these planets are, in terms of structure, Earth-like. Terrestrial planets are generally studied by geologists, astronomers, and geophysicists.
Terrestrial planets have a solid planetary surface, making them substantially different from the larger gaseous planets, which are composed mostly of some combination of hydrogen, helium, and water existing in various physical states.
All terrestrial planets in the Solar System have the same basic structure, such as a central metallic core (mostly iron) with a surrounding silicate mantle.
The large rocky asteroid 4 Vesta has a similar structure; possibly so does the smaller one 21 Lutetia. Another rocky asteroid 2 Pallas is about the same size as Vesta, but is significantly less dense; it appears to have never differentiated a core and a mantle. The Earth's Moon and Jupiter's moon Io have similar structures to the terrestrial planets, but Earth's Moon has a much smaller iron core. Another Jovian moon Europa has a similar density but has a significant ice layer on the surface: for this reason, it is sometimes considered an icy planet instead.
Terrestrial planets can have surface structures such as canyons, craters, mountains, volcanoes, and others, depending on the presence at any time of an erosive liquid or tectonic activity or both.
Terrestrial planets have secondary atmospheres, generated by volcanic out-gassing or from comet impact debris.
Official source
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