# What is your Favourite Planet



## OrbitalResonance

What is your Favorite Solar System object? I am going to leave earth out of it because that i most peoples choice =D

Mercury









Venus









Mars









Ceres









Jupiter









Saturn









Uranus









Neptune









Dwarf Planets










Mine are as follows:
1. Venus
2. Uranus
3. Saturn
4. Mercury
5. Mars
6. Neptune
7. Jupiter
8. Ceres
9. Eris
10. Pluto
11. Sedna
12. Makemake

I resized these, i donno whats wrong.


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## Keith

I've always liked Neptune its got such a cool color I also think Saturn is pretty cool too.


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## Belshazzar

anymouse said:


> saturn cuz it's mine.


And Sun Ra came from there. 

However, I prefer the planet Will Smith called "Urf."


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## BluePhoenix54

Saturn has always been my favorite planet since I was a kid, funny that it actually is associated with my Zodiac sign.


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## alte

I am most intrigued by rogue/interstellar planets - planets that aren't gravitationally linked to a star, instead they orbit the center of the galaxy directly.
Even in the cold of space, it is thought they can retain enough heat to have liquid oceans. Can they have life? Imagine life on a planet with no sun/star. Crazy stuff.

From your list, I am partial to Jupiter because it was the only planet I could properly see through my cheap walmart bought telescope back in high school.


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## OrbitalResonance

alte said:


> I am most intrigued by rogue/interstellar planets -


=D I like rouge planets as well, interstellar objects. Interstellar space is filled with stuff! I can't wait for the WISE results to come in! Brown Dwarfs Galore!


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## Jnmcda0

Jupiter is a pretty cool guy. Eh has a big storm and doesn't afraid of anything.


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## alte

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> =D I like rouge planets as well, interstellar objects. Interstellar space is filled with stuff!


Astronomy is so incredibly fascinating.. Thinking along the same lines, I wonder if the space between galaxies normally pictured as dark and empty is truly empty or filled with rogue planets(or stars?)


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## OrbitalResonance

There is probably multitudes of debris between galaxies! They would be more spaced out though!


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## bsd3355

My favorite planet? Huh, earth? It's the only planet I'll ever live on in my lifetime! Duh.


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## EmptyRoom

Uranus...just kidding
I happen to be infatuated with Saturn, its' rings astound me.


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## low

Mars. The month I was born was named after mars, which was named after the god of war. _Life on Mars?_ is a good song. It's interesting to fantasize about life having existed on it or possibly still and you can do so in a scientific way too. I like the sci fi genres about underground martian civilisations too, they are pretty cool.


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## Wirt

Earth..even though its kind of a lame answer. I mean, the balances of everything (right distance from the sun, having the perfect atmosphere and not being like venus or mars where its close but still cant sustain life, etc) is amazing.

Or Saturn maybe because of its moons. To me, life/the possibility of life makes planets interesting..maybe once we're at a time where we know life is abundant there will be something else to differentiate planets/moons


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## Just Lurking

I find Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune to be the most interesting.


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## Perfectionist

Pluto because I did a project on it in grade two and got 100% babeeee. I had a little spinning paper planet with facts on it and everything. We have been tight ever since. I was the only one who stood by him when that whole "not a planet" fiasco started. All the other moons and planets abandoned him, forgetting all the good times, but I was there.

I was there.


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## Scorpius

Pluto :twisted


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## OrbitalResonance

Uranus never gets the love here, no im serious, im talking about the planet and its moon system itself. Its casue of its unfortunate name..

Venus is also very nitruging to me, i have a time limit atm but ill explain in a later post.


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## strawberryjulius

Jupiter!


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## NameIsNotImportant

alte said:


> I am most intrigued by rogue/interstellar planets - planets that aren't gravitationally linked to a star, instead they orbit the center of the galaxy directly.
> Even in the cold of space, it is thought they can retain enough heat to have liquid oceans. Can they have life? Imagine life on a planet with no sun/star. Crazy stuff.
> 
> From your list, I am partial to Jupiter because it was the only planet I could properly see through my cheap walmart bought telescope back in high school.


If those planets truly can retain their thermal energy with no energy source, I'm reallyy curious. Mind linking me to an article where I can read more about this?


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## OrbitalResonance

They can retain thier internal energy. All the energy in the mantle and cores of the planets Venus and Earth is internal. None of it comes from an outside source. All it is leftover enrergy from the planets formation, from radioactive decay and from pressure. The active volcanoes on Venus and the plate tectonics+volcanoes on Earth are all ways for the planets to release this energy. Venus does not have plate tectonics due to no lubircant ie water, so it has high hotspot volcano activity. Planets simular in mass and larger in intersteller space can retain enough heat to keep some deep subsurface ocean liquid for a long period of time.


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## millenniumman75

Earth, the rest scare me.


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## mind_games

Earth. It's the only planet with chocolate and porn.


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## danberado

millenniumman75 said:


> Earth, the rest scare me.


Can't imagine why.


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## OrbitalResonance

Cool Article!
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/satellites-spy-mercury-tail-100922.html










> Two satellites peering at the sun have snapped photos of Mercury's long, comet-like tail, but it took an amateur astronomer to bring the pictures to light.
> The twin satellites are part of NASA's Stereo (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) mission. They zip around the sun in Earth's orbit, one behind our planet and one ahead of it. Their main job is to monitor the sun and its atmosphere.
> Since Mercury is so close to the sun, the planet occasionally wanders into the satellites' photos. Some of these images show a long, comet-like tail streaming off the planet, away from the sun. [New photo of Mercury tail.]
> Astronomers didn't notice the tail in the photos right away. But it didn't escape the eyes of Australian medical researcher Ian Musgrave.
> Musgrave was poring over an Internet database of images when he discovered Mercury's wispy tail. He then asked scientists at Boston University to take a look, university researchers said.
> The scientists presented their findings at the European Planetary Science Congress meeting in Rome today (Sept. 22).
> *Mercury's tail*
> Scientists have known for years that Mercury has a long tail. From Earth it can be seen by analyzing light from sodium gas sputtered off Mercury's surface. The sun's intense radiation pressure pushes many sodium atoms off into space, creating a tail that extends far beyond the planet.
> Mercury also has several smaller tails made of other gases. NASA's Messenger satellite recently detected these as it flew by Mercury in preparation to orbit the planet, researchers said.
> But there are many details still to be worked out about these mysterious tails, and the new solar-satellite data should shed some light, researchers said.
> "What makes the Stereo detections so interesting is that the brightness levels seem to be too strong to be from sodium," said study researcher Carl Schmidt of Boston University.
> *What's it made of?*
> The current focus of the team is to sort out what the gases in the tail might be.
> The researchers are working to refine their brightness-calibration methods, and they're trying to determine the precise wavelengths of light that would get through the Stereo cameras' filters.
> 
> "The combination of our ground-based data with the new Stereo data is an exciting way to learn as much as possible about the sources and fates of gases escaping from Mercury," said researcher Michael Mendillo, also of Boston University.


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## Cleary

Earth before it was inhabited by humans.


Saturn is pretty cool too.


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## RyeCatcher86

Earth. Haven't visited the others... yet.


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## alte

NameIsNotImportant said:


> If those planets truly can retain their thermal energy with no energy source, I'm reallyy curious. Mind linking me to an article where I can read more about this?


From wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_planet)

"_Retention of heat in interstellar space

"In 1998, David J. Stevenson theorized[6] that some planet-sized objects, referred to as "planets", drift in the vast expanses of cold interstellar space and could possibly sustain a thick atmosphere which would not freeze out due to radiative heat loss. He proposes that atmospheres are preserved by the pressure-induced far infrared radiation opacity of a thick hydrogen-containing atmosphere.
It is thought that during planetary system formation, several small protoplanetary bodies may be ejected from the forming system.[7] With the reduced ultraviolet light associated with its increasing distance from the parent star, the planet's predominantly hydrogen and helium containing atmosphere would be easily confined even by an Earth-sized body's gravity.
*It is calculated that for an Earth-sized object at a kilobar hydrogen atmospheric pressures in which a convective gas adiabat has formed, geothermal energy from residual core radioisotope decay will be sufficient to heat the surface to temperatures above the melting point of water.[6] Thus, it is proposed that interstellar planetary bodies with extensive liquid water oceans may exist.* It is further suggested that these planets are likely to remain geologically active for long periods, providing a geodynamo-created protective magnetosphere and *possible sea floor volcanism which could provide an energy source for life*.[6] The author admits these bodies will be difficult to detect due to the intrinsically weak thermal microwave radiation emissions emanating from the lower reaches of the atmosphere.
A study of simulated planet ejection scenarios has suggested that around five percent of Earth-sized planets with Moon-sized moons would retain their moons after ejection. A large moon would be a source of significant geological tidal heating.[8]_"

Hope this helps.


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## alte

danberado said:


> Can't imagine why.


That's damn near frightening. Is that the actual sound of the atmosphere in Saturn? I know the speeds of the winds in Saturn and Jupiter are incredibly high (~1500 miles per hour I think). But then the sound recorded in the video may be an amplified, artificial version. Would a person next to Saturn hear this sound? I am not sure.


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## OrbitalResonance

anymouse said:


> ^ lol. i too would like to know!
> 
> :um:afr:sus


Its teh Alien base. :um :afr

I think its electromagnetic.


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## Clumsy

Neptune's color is pretty cool. I like Saturn and its rings as well. Ceres, I've never heard of before, but it looks like it has an interesting composition.


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## Drewsy

Jupiter seems pretty badass.


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## Sunshine009

How the heck should I know? Am I a multi-world traveler?

okay, I used to be, but the jet lag is bad, and I didn't get to see them all so I still cannot compare.


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## Noca

Pluto


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## Amocholes

Earth - I like to breathe.










I took this picture this morning. I think it turned out well!


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## Neptunus

Ironically, not Neptune! :lol Jupiter, the failed second "sun," along with the magnificent storm that is its "eye" is my favorite planet. My second would be Saturn, with its lovely rings. Although Uranus has rings as well! :lol


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## bbarn

neptune b/c i once did a project on it in grade 4 lol


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## OrbitalResonance

Neptunus said:


> Ironically, not Neptune! :lol Jupiter, the failed second "sun," along with the magnificent storm that is its "eye" is my favorite planet. My second would be Saturn, with its lovely rings. Although Uranus has rings as well! :lol


Jupiter is not even close to becoming a second sun.

It would take over 1000 Jupiters to make another sun.

70 Jupiters to make a weak red dwarf.

Soz, i get annoyed at the idea that jupiter is close tobecoming a star when it is not.


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## laura024

Neptune ftw.


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## Typical Guy

I like the planet where the Ewoks live.


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## OrbitalResonance

Typical Guy said:


> I like the planet where the Ewoks live.


Endor ftw.

Its a moon btw !


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## Toad Licker

Mars and Saturn followed closely by Uranus just because it's fun to say.


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## Neptunus

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> Soz, i get annoyed at the idea that jupiter is close tobecoming a star when it is not.


That's why I said *failed "sun" - *note the quotation marks. Try reading people's posts more carefully before jumping down their throats.



Neptunus said:


> Ironically, not Neptune! :lol Jupiter, the *failed second "sun,"* along with the magnificent storm that is its "eye" is my favorite planet. My second would be Saturn, with its lovely rings. Although Uranus has rings as well! :lol


For your edification:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=i-have-heard-people-call



> "Jupiter is called a failed star because it is made of the same elements (hydrogen and helium) as is the Sun, but it is not massive enough to have the internal pressure and temperature necessary to cause hydrogen to fuse to helium, the energy source that powers the sun and most other stars.





> As for why Jupiter failed to become a star--it probably had to do with the accident of the sun grabbing most of the mass early in the formation of the solar system, while in other systems the mass was more equitably distributed; in binary star systems, for example, the masses of the stars are commonly roughly equal. Stellar formation is a hot topic of current research, as astronomers are trying to fathom the still-mysterious details of the birth process.


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## Amocholes

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> Endor ftw.
> 
> Its a moon btw !


Actually it's always referred to as "the Endor Moon" so it is a moon orbiting the planet Endor.


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## OrbitalResonance

Neptunus said:


> That's why I said *failed "sun" - *note the quotation marks. Try reading people's posts more carefully before jumping down their throats.
> 
> For your edification:
> 
> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=i-have-heard-people-call


The Only thing that determines what a star is and what a star is not, is mass. It dosn't matter what an object is composed of.

Jupiter is nowhere near star status.

I read your post thoroughly. Don't make an assumption I did not.

edit* sigh, i know im being rough on a fun topic but i am a stickler for accuracy.. ops


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## Neptunus

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> The Only thing that determines what a star is and what a star is not, is mass. It dosn't matter what an object is composed of.
> 
> Jupiter is nowhere near star status.
> 
> I read your post thoroughly. Don't make an assumption I did not.


Very good! *claps* That's why I called it a "failed sun." Glad we agree! 

"Stickling" aside, back on topic!


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## OrbitalResonance

Okay. *note i edited teh last post)


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## Neptunus

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> Okay. *note i edited teh last post)


No prob, all's cool now.


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## OrbitalResonance

**THREAD EDIT**

I have now added poll options.


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## huh

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> **THREAD EDIT**
> 
> I have now added poll options.


lol ... I was wondering how it was possible that my vote was the only one after 3 pages of discussion.


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## Typical Guy

Amocholes said:


> Actually it's always referred to as "the Endor Moon" so it is a moon orbiting the planet Endor.


I didn't know all that but I do know that Ewoks are awesome.










I mean, c'mon, look at that face! And they live in trees!


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## Sabreth




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## Amber78

Whatever the Klingon home planet is called.


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## KittyGirl

Even if Pluto isn't technically a planet (anymore) it always was my favourite and will continue to be!


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## Sheogorath

As much as I enjoy probing Uranus, I have to say Eris is my favorite. She's also my favorite goddess, and I like that it's the one that demoted Pluto, because it's better in every way.

Also: Alderaan. Oh wait . . .


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## OrbitalResonance

I wonder what WISE will uncover in the way outer solar system..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WISE_mission


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## danberado

Did the poll reset or something? I vote Neptune.


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## alte

ExplorerAtHeart said:


> I wonder what WISE will uncover in the way outer solar system..


Will they find Nemesis? It would be a major discovery if they do, it would explain the cyclic nature of extinctions. We could predict the next major one as well.


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## danberado

It's called the The _forest_ moon of Endor. That actually cracks me up. I wish we had an unnamed forest moon full of tiny but deadly anthropocentric bears.

Which is interesting in an other way... are we to understand the forest moon of Endor has the same gravity as Earth? And the vegetation? Oh wait... don't over think it.


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## Kevin001

Saturn have you seen those rings.......beautiful.


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## xxDark Horse

Mars because that's where i'm originally from, many years in the future when humans have already colonized much of the galaxy.


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## Fever Dream

All of the planets are interesting, but I'm going to vote Earth. If simply because it has all the of right conditions for complex life.

If you're excluding Earth, and we are including moons, then Ganymede.


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## Fever Dream

Amber78 said:


> Whatever the Klingon home planet is called.


Qo'noS. Yes, I didn't have to look this up. And yes, I am geek.


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## SD92

Earth. Life just wouldn't be the same without it.


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## Constellations

I think Saturn is a pretty cool planet, especially it's moons and rings
Hoping there will be some planetary science modules in my geology course next year


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## Tsuba11

Mercury, because Sailor Mercury (Ami Mizuno) is my favorite Sailor Inner Guardian in Sailor Moon. :3


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## SplendidBob

Haven't read the thread fully and I assume its full of these already but...

I definitely like Uranus best of all. I love its vibrant hue (that slightly off green is most unusual) and something just feels inviting about it, but its something I can't quite put my finger on.


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## EmotionlessThug

Mars - NASA knows why.


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## RiversBetweenUs

Neptune. It's just very dreamy and magical to me. It is often associated with dreams, illusion, intuition, and mysticism. It's very mysterious to me and makes me think of the ocean depths.


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## Chelsalina

Uranus because it has a crack in it


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## CristianNC

Saturn has a lot of interesting facts:
-It's the least dense planet in the solar system, consisting mostly of hydrogen, which has a lower density than water.
-It has 150 moons, all of which are frozen.
-It is known as a gas giant(no jokes), but it is believed that it has a rocky core.


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## JustALonelyHeart

Earth is my home.And there is no place like home.Unfortunately some stupid, idiot morons keep trying to destroy it.


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## One Armed Scissor

V774104.


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## Telliblah

Not earth that's for sure.


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## Skeletra

Venus.
Sulfuric acid rain, metal snow.
Intense weather conditions like that fascinate me


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## Fangirl96

Pluto of course. Poor lil guy. Gotta love him. So smol and lonely. Also quite like Venus as it is my zodiac sign planet. It's suppose to be sensual, feminine and sensitive or whatever. Not that i'm really into that stuff, but meh.


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## xxDark Horse

Mars of course, that's where i'm originally from.


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## eukz

I believe Jupiter is cool mostly because of the red spot. Thinking that it's been messing around for centuries. I'd love to see that freaking storm from as close as possible.


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## Enkidu

Saturn is my favorite. When I lived up north, I enjoyed spending a few hours each night watching Saturn's rings and it's largest moons with my telescope when they were along the ecliptic


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## Arbre

It's difficult to pick one because all planets are really interesting to me. I think I'll say Venus though because it seems so uninhabitable with its atmospheric pressure and temperature yet it also has similarities to Earth.


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## BAH

A secret,hidden planet that hasn't been discovered yet


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## CosmicLow

If any planet has most amazing facts, it's the Earth.


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## SeeYouInDream

My most favorite planet is Jupiter!  Mainly because it's orange-y and I think it's apparently associated with my zodiac sign x-D And also because of The Great Red Spot, it's just so freakin' cool! :-D


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## Alcadaeus

Mars because my favorite sailor moon character is sailor mars.


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## Canadian Brotha

I'm gonna say Mars because it's classic but the more I find out about other planets the more I think it's tough to pick just one


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## shyguy07

Mine was Saturn because of the big rings it has. The ringed planets were always my favorite.


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## Charmander

I always liked Jupiter for some random reason, even as a kid. Earth is still the most 'attractive' one though lol.


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## cat001

I see Jupiter most often in the night sky, I can see it from my bedroom window and have even had a go at photographing it (although want to have another go when I get my new scope - the one I have now is pants).

jupiter by Catherine Read, on Flickr


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## coeur_brise

So hard to choose just one. Each planet has its own intricacies and what makes it interesting/beautiful. I like Saturn for its rings. According to astrology, which is not a science, Saturn is the planet of karma, responsibility, father Time.

Neptune is a great one too, probably my favorite. It's made of water and the people influenced by Neptune's waters are sensitive, dreamy, artistic. The depths of Neptune are unparalled. Also the planet of compassion. (Yea, I'm crazy.) I'll say Neptune, though I admire Mercury's stamina by not being fried by the Sun. Earth is a place where lots of stuff converge, some good, some bad. Some ugly. Great place to grow things, especially ideas and civilizations. I dunno why I'm on this particular planet. :teeth I also like Jupiter for protecting us from deadly comets.


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## odetoanoddity

As a child, Neptune was my favourite planet. It was blue, and I assumed it was an ocean world 

Our Earth is pretty darn spectacular too. I wouldn't say that I have a favourite now, but I do find myself particularly fascinated with Sedna at the moment.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## eukz

Glad to see Jupiter is the second favourite. It's even beating Uranus, which of course gets votes just because of the name joke.


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## David777

Pluto because it is the SA of planets. *hugs!* You too Charon. Group hug!


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## Fun Spirit

This is a silly question.
I don't care what other planets is out there 
But none can't beat Earth. 
I am here, its my home and I shall always be on it til I die.


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## iAmCodeMonkey

I always loved Saturn and its rings.


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## The Condition of Keegan

Saturn looks awesome to me. I love the rings around the planet and how cool it looks from outside the planet. It's unusual compared to other planets...at least to me


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## PrisciIIa

Probably the only known planet known to contain life. So my vote goes to earth.


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## cat001

Jupiter with some moons, bloomin' love Jupiter
jupiter by Catherine Read, on Flickr


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## Rainyfall

the moon, does that count? not exactly a planet. It's just up there and right there, and it just reminds me how silly and absurd space and time are and I like it for that. My complicated and confusing life and a big dumb rock keeps on circling the earth, forever and ever. Nowhere to be, nothing to do, just stuck in orbit. Simple.


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