# What's your favorite planet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186 "2012-12-06T14:56:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/61 "2012-12-07T16:15:10Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The results of this poll are interesting. What spurred it was a show I recorded from the Science channel. They said that Saturn was everybody’s favorite planet. Looks like they were right! > > But there’s still a lot of love for Pluto. The bimodal, but otherwise “normal”-seeming distribution (in the statistical sense), is interesting. Perhaps it suggests that there are two (hunan-defined) ideal distances from the sun, besides Earth’s distance. (I’m only kidding – I think the histogram’s form is only coincidentally function-esque.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/62 "2012-12-07T16:25:19Z")
> [@bup](#): > > We had this argument in General Questions, and your assertions are just wrong. The moon is a moon, not a planet. Its primary motion is around the earth. The moon does not move around the earth, it orbits the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/63 "2012-12-07T16:43:54Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Venus. Because of _Space Cat Visits Venus_, it went to my top spot as a youth, and it’s never been unseated. Yeah, I was a fan too. In that from 3rd grade onward, I read every single SF book in my school library. One day in 3rd grade, one of the stupid boys who always bullied me was walking past and saw _Space Cat_ on my desk. He scoffed, “_Space Cat_, oh that’s the baby-est book.” Hey, man. Space Cat was _cool_. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/64 "2012-12-07T16:49:18Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > (hunan-defined) ideal distances from the sun I know China’s the middle kingdom, but this is taking sinocentrism a bit too far! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/65 "2012-12-07T17:06:38Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I know China’s the middle kingdom, but this is taking sinocentrism a bit too far! Great, now I’m hungry for General Tsao’s chicken. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/66 "2012-12-07T18:22:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The moon does not move around the earth, it orbits the sun. [That’s just not true.](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/09/29/the-moon-that-went-up-a-hill-but-came-down-a-planet/#.UMIzeazfWc0) I don’t care if you don’t believe it, but I want to make sure nobody else believes you. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/67 "2012-12-07T18:26:12Z")
I like Jupiter, but only for it’s moons. 😉 It would be pretty neat though to be able to go through all those layers of gas and storms to see what the heck the surface may look like. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/68 "2012-12-07T18:28:09Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I like Jupiter, but only for it’s moons. If it weren’t for Jupiter, all of those moons would wander off like cats. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/69 "2012-12-07T18:37:29Z")
Neptune comes a close second, because I like it’s color. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/70 "2012-12-07T18:39:13Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > If it weren’t for Jupiter, all of those moons would wander off like cats. So is Jupiter the crazy cat lady of our solar system? Hehe ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/71 "2012-12-07T18:45:31Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > So is Jupiter the crazy cat lady of our solar system? Hehe Yes, and she’s looking at us with her crazy red eye. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/72 "2012-12-07T19:55:20Z")
I like **Eris** , if only because it is the only possible name that could have supplanted the original Xena and (Gabrielle) names and still received my nod of approval. Hail Eris! ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/73 "2012-12-07T20:30:34Z")
As far as I’m concerned, the Sun and Moon are planets, and the Earth isn’t. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_planet)😉 ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/74 "2012-12-07T23:28:25Z")
My robot [del]overlords[/del] protectors compel me to say that the best planet is [Chiron Beta Prime](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3DyxaCYlfg). ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/75 "2012-12-08T19:53:47Z")
Saturn is the best because of its rings. Pluto, on the other hand, totally blows. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/76 "2012-12-08T21:32:27Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Saturn is the best because of its rings. > > Pluto, on the other hand, totally blows. I just knew this thread would turn ugly. I predict that planetary ranking will become one of those hot topics that Must Not Be Mentioned on the SD. P.S. Saturn is a wussy planet. Without its rings, it’s just a pale imitation of Jupiter. You can put a diamond necklace on Andie McDowell, but it doesn’t make her the Solar System’s best actress. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186/77 "2012-12-08T22:50:00Z")
This thread motivated me to dig out and scan a set of postcards I got years ago at the Griffith Observatory. For those having trouble deciding, these might help you choose a favorite: [Spaced out postcards](https://picasaweb.google.com/109588081293702443159/SpacedOutPostcards) Based on the planetary highlights I like Uranus (“Down is Up on The Sideways Planet”, “Amazing Moons”, “Dark Rings”, “98° Tilt”, “21-Year Summers”, “21 Year Winters”, “Chewy Caramel Center”.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-planet/643186.md?page=3)