Inferior and superior planets Inferior and superior planets In the Solar System, a planet is said to be inferior or interior with respect to another planet if its orbit lies inside the other planet's orbit around the Sun. In this situation, the latter planet is said to be superior to the former. In the reference frame of the Earth, in which the terms were originally used, the inferior planets are Mercury and Venus, while the superior planets are Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Dwarf planets like Ceres or Pluto and most asteroids are 'superior' in the sense that they almost all orbit outside
The Science of Aliens possibilities for alien life. The second section explores the variety of life on Earth and the extreme conditions in which it can survive. It looks at recent missions to moons and planets in the Solar System and what they can tell us about alien life before going on to examine some extra-solar planets. The next section presents two fictional planets, Aurelia and Blue Moon and their ecosystems as imagined by scientists. These are used to explore the factors and parameters governing life on other planets and are presented as two large interactive landscapes. The exhibition concludes by looking at the