Editing Giant planet (section)

== Extrasolar giant planets ==
[[File:Plan79ceti.jpg|thumb|An artist's conception of [[79 Ceti b]], the first extrasolar giant planet found with a [[minimum mass]] less than Saturn.]]
{{See also|Hot Jupiter|Super-Jupiter|Sub-brown dwarf |Brown dwarf}}
Because of the limited [[Methods of detecting exoplanets|techniques currently available]] to detect [[exoplanet]]s, many of those found to date have been of a size associated, in the Solar System, with giant planets. Because these large planets are inferred to share more in common with Jupiter than with the other giant planets, some have claimed that "jovian planet" is a more accurate term for them. Many of the exoplanets are much closer to their parent stars and hence much hotter than the giant planets in the Solar System, making it possible that some of those planets are a type not observed in the Solar System. Considering the relative [[abundance of the chemical elements|abundances of the elements in the universe]] (approximately 98% hydrogen and helium) it would be surprising to find a predominantly rocky planet more massive than Jupiter. On the other hand, models of planetary-system formation have suggested that giant planets would be inhibited from forming as close to their stars as many of the extrasolar giant planets have been observed to orbit.