Question

Distinguish between the following: Inferior planet and Superior planet.

Answer 1

Hint: Planet is an astronomical body that is rounded up by its own gravity, orbits the Sun and has cleared its path of other smaller objects. Our solar system has eight planets.

Complete answer: Planets closer to the Sun than Earth are called Inferior planets. Mercury and Venus are examples of the same. Planets farther to the Sun than Earth are called Superior planets. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are superior planets.
The earth is kept as the reference point when deciding if a planet is an inferior planet or a superior planet. The inferior planets are those whose orbits lie inside the orbit of the Earth and hence the Earth can never come between these planets and the Sun.
Superior planet’s orbits lie outside Earth’s orbit. The earth can sometimes come between the Sun and one of these planets. This position is called “opposition” and in this position, the planet is closest to earth.The inferior planets show a full range of phases from new to full when observed from earth . However the superior planets are always seen as full phase and do not show a range of phases like new, crescent etc.

Inferior planets	Superior planets
These are planets closer to Sun than earth	These are planets farther to Sun that earth
Their orbits lie inside earth’s orbit	Their orbits lie outside the orbit of earth
These planets show a range of phases	These planets are only seen in full phase and don't show any range.

Note: The term inferior planet is not to be confused with dwarf planets. Dwarf planets, like other planets, are spherical in shape and orbit the Sun. However they have not cleared their path of other similar smaller objects and hence are called dwarf planets instead of just planets. Pluto is an example of a dwarf planet.