Katana VentraIP

Planetary-mass object

A planetary-mass object (PMO), planemo,[2] or planetary body is, by geophysical definition of celestial objects, any celestial object massive enough to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium, but not enough to sustain core fusion like a star.[3][4]

Not to be confused with Planet.

The purpose of this term is to classify together a broader range of celestial objects than 'planet', since many objects similar in geophysical terms do not conform to conventional expectations for a planet. Planetary-mass objects can be quite diverse in origin and location. They include planets, dwarf planets, planetary-mass satellites and free-floating planets, which may have been ejected from a system (rogue planets) or formed through cloud-collapse rather than accretion (sub-brown dwarfs).

(iPMO; IPMO) are objects that are free-floating and have a low mass below deuterium burning and their nature as either an ejected free-floating planets or sub-brown dwarfs is not fully resolved (e.g. 2MASS J13243553+6358281,[5] PSO J060.3200+25.9644[6] objects in NGC 1333[7])

isolated planetary-mass objects

Objects with a mass range at the border of deuterium burning (,[8] BD+60 1417b[9])

VHS 1256-1257 b

Objects that orbit a star or brown dwarf, but its formation as exoplanets is challenging or impossible (VHS 1256-1257 b, CFHTWIR-Oph 98B)

[10]

While the term technically includes exoplanets and other objects, it is often used for objects with an uncertain nature or objects that do not fit in one specific class. Cases in which the term is often used:

Planetary mass

List of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System

List of Solar System objects by size