GAS GIANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gas giant mean? 

• GAS GIANT (noun)
  The noun GAS GIANT has 1 sense:

1. any of the four outermost planets in the solar system; much larger than Earth and gaseous in nature (like Jupiter)

  Familiarity information: GAS GIANT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GAS GIANT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of the four outermost planets in the solar system; much larger than Earth and gaseous in nature (like Jupiter)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

gas giant; Jovian planet

Hypernyms ("gas giant" is a kind of...):

major planet; planet ((astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction)

Instance hyponyms:

Jupiter (the largest planet and the 5th from the sun; has many satellites and is one of the brightest objects in the night sky)

Neptune (a giant planet with a ring of ice particles; the 8th planet from the sun is the most remote of the gas giants)

Saturn (a giant planet that is surrounded by three planar concentric rings of ice particles; the 6th planet from the sun)

Uranus (a giant planet with a ring of ice particles; the 7th planet from the sun has a blue-green color and many satellites)

 Context examples 

Its mass is almost 85±4 times the gas giant, the study said.

(Astronomers discover smallest known star, Wikinews)

Their image revealed three distinct gaps in the disc, which, according to their theoretical modelling, were most likely caused by three additional gas giant planets also orbiting the young star.

(Giant planets around young star raise questions about how planets form, University of Cambridge)

The strong magnetic field of the gas giant grabs charged particles from its surroundings.

(Hubble Captures Vivid Auroras in Jupiter’s Atmosphere, NASA)

Among its suite of highly sensitive instruments is the Microwave Radiometer Instrument (MWR), which records emissions from the gas giant across a wide spectrum of frequencies.

(Juno Solves 39-Year Old Mystery of Jupiter Lightning, NASA)

The planet they found was 51 Pegasi b, a Jupiter-like gas giant some 50 light years away from Earth.

(Swedish academy announces 2019 Nobel Prize winners in physics, Wikinews)

The first high-resolution images of the gas giant Jupiter are still a few weeks away.

(Juno Spacecraft Sends First In-orbit View, NASA)

Juno determined the gas giant's secular variation is most likely driven by the planet's deep atmospheric winds.

(NASA's Juno Finds Changes in Jupiter's Magnetic Field, NASA)

It is the first time weather patterns on a gas giant exoplanet have been observed, researchers said.

(Exoplanet Could Have Clouds of Rubies, Sapphires, VOA)

Like Jupiter, however, Kepler-1647b is a gas giant, making the planet unlikely to host life.

(New Planet Is Largest Discovered That Orbits Two Suns, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

With such a low mass, it could be a gas giant similar to Jupiter that was ejected from its star system.

(A cold, close neighbor of the Sun, NASA)