Asteroidal Class:  Small bodies fifty meters to approximately 250 kilometers in size.  Asteroids are essentially left-over building blocks from the formation of a solar system, or the remains of fragmented larger bodies.  Regardless, they are typically among the oldest of a system's bodies, and come in a huge variety of shapes.  Binary asteroids and asteroids with moons are actually quite common.  Many classically known asteroids, in the size scheme of the PCL, are now actually classified as Planetoidal bodies.  However, their masses still vary considerably, from solid chunks of nickel and iron to literal flying piles of rubble.  The Type names of these bodies are primarily named after their composition. Vulcanian Type Silicaceous Type Sideritic Type Basaltic Type Carbonaceous Type Enceladean Type (Small icy worlds that, like Europan worlds, experience tidal heating and have liquid interiors.  however, these worlds are almost pure ice, and thus nearly their entire interior is melted.  There are minor to major indications of this liquid state on their hard frozen surfaces). Mimean Type rock-ice worlds;  as with most such worlds, there are indications of ancient geological activity on their surfaces, and some may retain cryovolcanism to the present for a variety of reasons.  these worlds form in the outer solar system, but are not associated with Oortean type worlds. Oortean Type	Even before Man left the Solar System of his birth, he learned through various remote means that extrasolar planets came in a dizzying variety of types.  Yet, in an almost biological fashion, these worlds seemed to follow a sort of growth pattern, depending on outside formative influences, and it was soon obvious that they could be grouped into "families", or Types.  In 2114 the Exploration Society initiated the Planetary Classification List, a list which continues to be updated to this day. A PCL Outline Asteroidal Class Vulcanian Type Silicaceous Type Sideritic Type Basaltic Type Carbonaceous Type Enceladean Type Mimean Type Oortean Type Planetoidal Class Hadean Type Cerean Type Vestian Type Rhean Type Kuiperian Type Terrestrial Class Hephaestian Type Ferrinian Type Hermian Type Selenian Type EoGaian Type MesoGaian Type ArchaeoGaian Type EoArean Type AreanLacustric Type Arean Type Cytherean Type Pelagic Type Gaian Type GaianTundral Type "Acidic Hothouse" Panthalassic Type PostGaian Type LithicGelidian Type Europan Type Stygian Type Jovian Class CryoJovian Type SubJovian Type EuJovian Type SuperJovian Type MacroJovian Type EpiStellar Type The following people have helped with the PCL to a great extent.  I may have mentioned them in the acknowledgments page for the ArcBuilder site, but I thought they deserved specific recognition here. Bowers, Steve:  Steve has been very instrumental in some of the latter development of the Planetary Classification List (versions 3.0 and above), including some new planet Types, as well as tweaking of pre-existing types. What's New June 26, 2004 Added the EpiStellar Jovian type entry.  This largely completes the PCL's upgrade to version to 3.2!  For the next while, I'll be adding minor tweaks and some extra, pending entries. Added the MacroJovian Type entry. June 25, 2004 Added the SuperJovian Type entry. Added the EuJovian Type entry. Added the SubJovian Type entry. Added the CryoJovian Type entry. Added the Europan Type entry. June 24, 2004 Created the Titanian Type Terrestrial Class. Added the LithicGelidian Type entry. Created the Rhean Type Planetoidal Class, and the Enceladean and Mimean Type Asteroidal Class. Added the PostGaian Type entry. Fixed a link in the Panthalassic Type references section. June 23, 2004 Added the GaianTundral Type entry. Created some new Types, named  "Acidic Hothouse", Vesperian, and Cthonian Types. Added the Panthalassic type entry. June 20, 2004 Added the Gaian Type entry. June 19, 2004 Added the Pelagic Type entry. June 17, 2004 Added the AreanLacustric Type entry. Added the Arean Type entry. Added the Cytherean Type entry. June 16, 2004 Added the ArchaeoGaian Type entry. Added a landscape image to the EoArean Type entry. June 15, 2004 Added the EoGaian Type entry. Added the MesoGaian Type entry. June 13, 2004 Added the Ferrinian Type entry. Added the Hermian Type entry. Added the Selenian type entry. May 4, 2004 Added the Hephaestian Type entry. May 2, 2004 Added the EoArean Type entry. Added the Cerean Type entry. Added the Vestian Type entry. Added the Kuiperian Type entry. May 1, 2004 Completed the PCL index page upgrade. Added the Vulcanian Type entry. Added the Silicaceous Type entry. Added the Sideritic Type entry. Added the Basaltic Type entry. Added the Carbonaceous Type entry. Added the Oortean Type entry. Added the Hadean Type entry. April 30, 2004 The upgrade of the PCL continues. April 29, 2004 I've begun a major visual overhaul of the site, as well as some page reconstruction to make browsing a bit more easy.
Planetoidal Class:  Small bodies that range from about 250 to 1,000 kilometers in diameter.  Note that some classic "asteroids" are actually classified as Planetoids in the PCL scheme.  Planetoidal bodies are often considered to be "minor planet"; that is, they are often possessing many characteristics that the terrestrial worlds have, such as compositional layering, signs of tectonic activity, and complex surface structures indicating a rich geological past.  However, their size is an indication that they had stopped accreting material and never gained planethood.  Indeed, in a still-forming system, planetoids are considered embryonic planets. Hadean Type Cerean Type Vestian Type Rhean Type (Named after the Saturnian moon rhea, these are small worlds predominantly made from ice, but large enough to have experienced some sort of geological active in their ancient past, or current cryovolcanism due to a variety of reasons) Kuiperian Type
Terrestrial Class:  Bodies larger than 1,000 kilometers in diameter, with solid surfaces and atmospheres of varying composition and density.  Because Terrestrial worlds are such complex bodies in both form and self-contained workings, often times other factors will serve to classify these bodies, rather than relying solely on composition. Hephaestian Type Ferrinian Type Hermian Type Selenian Type EoGaian Type MesoGaian Type ArchaeoGaian Type EoArean Type AreanLacustric Type Arean Type Cytherean Type Pelagic Type Gaian Type GaianTundral Type "Acidic Hothouse" Vesperian Type Panthalassic Type PostGaian Type LithicGelidian Type Europan Type Titanian Type Stygian Type
Jovian Class:  Gas giants.  Worlds that have formed in a somewhat different manner than Terrestrial planets, and which possess no true solid surface.  Rather, they are comprised of many atmospheric layers that eventually seamlessly merge into a liquid metallic hydrogen "ocean", while the very core may be composed of anything from iron, to diamond, to ice and rock.  The minimum mass of these worlds can be several times that of Earth, while the theoretical maximum mass is approximately 13 times that of Jupiter.  Much more than that, and the planet may be considered a brown dwarf. CryoJovian Type SubJovian Type EuJovian Type SuperJovian Type MacroJovian Type EpiStellar Jovian Type Cthonian Type

 

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ArcBuilder Universe concept © John M. and Margo L. Dollan 2002-2004 This Page first uploaded October 21, 2003 Most recent update for this page June 26, 2004