Look up potato radius, hydrostatic equilibrium, dwarf planets, or small Solar System body in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The potato radius is the size at which an asteroid is massive[1] enough that gravity begins to make it rounder.[2] The potato radius defines hydrostatic equilibrium and is used to separate dwarf planets from small solar system bodies.[3][4] Charles Lineweaver and Marc Norman at the Australian National University in Canberra first proposed an objective definition of a planet that separates potato-like objects from spherical ones.[5][6][7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Hall, Ian. "What Makes Earth A Planet, Not A Potato?". The Average Scientist .co.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ "Potato radius". BBC Sky at Night Magazine. The Sky at Night, BBC. 9 January 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ Caplan, M. E. (November 2015). "Calculating the Potato Radius of Asteroids using the Height of Mt. Everest". arXiv:1511.04297 [physics.ed-ph].
- ^ Lineweaver, Charles H.; Norman, Marc (2010). "The potato radius: A lower minimum size for dwarf planets" (PDF). In Short, W.; Cairns, I. (eds.). Proceedings of 2009 Australian Space Science Conference. National Space Society of Australia. pp. 67–78. arXiv:1004.1091. ISBN 9780977574032. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ^ "Picking Planets from Potatoes". phys.org. Astrobiology Magazine. April 26, 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ "'Potato Radius' To Define Dwarf Planets". MIT Technology Review. Emerging Technology from the arXiv. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ Nerlich, Steve (April 17, 2010). "Astronomy Without A Telescope – One Potato, Two Potato". Universe Today. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
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