A planet is a celestial body that is in orbit around the Sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. A planet is a large object such as Jupiter or Earth that orbits a star. It is smaller than a star, and it does not make light. Planets are shaped like a slightly squashed ball (a spheroid). Objects that orbit planets are called satellites.
