# Potato radius

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{{Wiktionary|potato radius|hydrostatic equilibrium|dwarf planets|small Solar System body}}

The '''potato radius''' is the size at which an [asteroid](/source/asteroid) is massive<ref name="theaveragescientist/planet-potato">{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Ian |title=What Makes Earth A Planet, Not A Potato? |url=https://theaveragescientist.co.uk/2022/05/28/why-isnt-planet-earth-a-potato/ |website=The Average Scientist .co.uk |access-date=1 August 2025}}</ref> enough that gravity begins to make it rounder.<ref name="skyatnightmagazine/potato-radius">{{cite web |title=Potato radius |url=https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/potato-radius |website=[BBC Sky at Night](/source/BBC_Sky_at_Night) Magazine |publisher=[The Sky at Night](/source/The_Sky_at_Night), [BBC](/source/BBC) |access-date=1 August 2025 |language=en |date=9 January 2025}}</ref> The potato radius defines [hydrostatic equilibrium](/source/hydrostatic_equilibrium) and is used to separate [dwarf planets](/source/dwarf_planets) from [small Solar System bodies](/source/small_Solar_System_bodies).<ref name="arXiv.1511.04297">{{cite arXiv |last1=Caplan |first1=M. E. |title=Calculating the Potato Radius of Asteroids using the Height of Mt. Everest |date=November 2015 |class=physics.ed-ph |eprint=1511.04297}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Charles H. |last1=Lineweaver |first2=Marc |last2=Norman |year=2010 |chapter=The potato radius: A lower minimum size for dwarf planets |editor-last1=Short |editor-first1=W. |editor-last2=Cairns |editor-first2=I. |title=Proceedings of 2009 Australian Space Science Conference |pages=67–78 |publisher=[National Space Society of Australia](/source/National_Space_Society) |arxiv=1004.1091 |isbn=9780977574032 |chapter-url=https://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~charley/papers/Potato%20Radiusv8.pdf |access-date=August 11, 2023 |archive-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310103945/https://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~charley/papers/Potato%20Radiusv8.pdf |url-status=live }}<!-- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45910611 --></ref> Charles Lineweaver and Marc Norman at the [Australian National University](/source/Australian_National_University) in [Canberra](/source/Canberra) first proposed an objective definition of a planet that separates potato-like objects from spherical ones.<ref name="phys/2010-04-planets-potatoes.">{{cite news |title=Picking Planets from Potatoes |url=https://phys.org/news/2010-04-planets-potatoes.html |access-date=1 August 2025 |work=[phys.org](/source/phys.org) |agency=[Astrobiology Magazine](/source/Astrobiology_Magazine) |date=April 26, 2010 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MIT-tech-review/27697">{{cite news |title='Potato Radius' To Define Dwarf Planets |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2010/04/12/27697/potato-radius-to-define-dwarf-planets/ |access-date=1 August 2025 |work=[MIT Technology Review](/source/MIT_Technology_Review) |agency=Emerging Technology from the arXiv |language=en}}</ref><ref name="universetoday/astronomy-potato">{{cite web |last1=Nerlich |first1=Steve |title=Astronomy Without A Telescope – One Potato, Two Potato |url=https://www.universetoday.com/articles/astronomy-without-a-telescope-one-potato-two-potato |website=Universe Today |access-date=1 August 2025 |language=en |date=April 17, 2010}}</ref>

==See also==
*[Dwarf planet § Hydrostatic equilibrium](/source/Dwarf_planet)
*[Hydrostatic equilibrium](/source/Hydrostatic_equilibrium) 
*[Radius of dominance](/source/Topographic_isolation)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{planetary-science-stub}}

Category:Asteroids
Category:Concepts in astronomy
Category:Concepts in astrophysics

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Potato radius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_radius) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato_radius?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.