Gas giantとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From gas +‎ giant, coined by American science-fiction writer James Blish and first attested in 1952 in a rewritten version of his 1941 short story Solar Plexus.

名詞

gas giant (plural gas giants)

1. (astronomy) A large planet composed mostly of gaseous hydrogen and helium, along with methane and ammonia; possibly with a solid core.

   Synonyms: gas giant planet, Jovian planet

   • 1954, James Blish, “Solar Plexus”, in Beyond Human Ken, Random House, page 106:

     A quick glance over the boards revealed that there was a magnetic field of some strength near by, one that didn't belong to the invisible gas giant revolving half a million miles away.

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Altanorch:

     Altanorch is a small but typical hydrogen-helium gas giant with no outstanding features. Its combination of strong magnetic field and relatively shallow gravity well make it a popular "stopover" world for discharging FTL drive cores.

   • 2013 May-June, Kevin Heng, “Why Does Nature Form Exoplanets Easily?”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 184:

     In the past two years, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has located nearly 3,000 exoplanet candidates ranging from sub-Earth-sized minions to gas giants that dwarf our own Jupiter.

上位語

• giant planet

下位語

• Jupiter
• Saturn

等位語

• terrestrial planet / rocky planet
  • silicate planet / silicon planet
  • carbide planet / carbon planet
• major planet

関連する語

• ice giant

参考

• dwarf planet
• minor planet
• Neptune (ice giant)
• Uranus (ice giant)

参照