Definition of planet Earth's own orbit around the Sun—looking down on the ecliptic, the Moon never actually loops back on itself, and in essence it orbits the Sun in its own right. Also many moons, even those that do not orbit the Sun directly, often exhibit features in common with true planets. There are 19 moons in the Solar System that have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium and would be considered planets if only the physical parameters are considered. Both Jupiter's moon Ganymede and Saturn's moon Titan are larger than Mercury, and Titan even has a substantial atmosphere, thicker than the Earth's. Moons such as
Orbit of the Moon and nights of about 15 Earth days, the sun will be "up" for 173 days as it will be "down"; polar sunrise and sunset takes 18 days each year. "Up" here means that the centre of the sun is above the horizon. Lunar polar sunrises and sunsets occur around the time of eclipses (solar or lunar). For example, at the Solar eclipse of March 9, 2016, the moon was near its descending node, and the sun was near the point in the sky where the equator of the moon crosses the ecliptic. When the sun reaches that point, the centre