referanseplanet

Referanseplanet is a term used in astronomy to describe a reference planet—a well-characterized planet used as a calibration standard in observational and theoretical work. The referanseplanet may be a real planet with well-determined properties or a synthetic construct in simulations, designed to have precisely known mass, radius, orbital parameters, and stellar irradiation.

In practice, referanseplanets are used to test and validate data-reduction pipelines for transit photometry and radial-velocity measurements, to benchmark retrieval algorithms for atmospheric composition, and to compare results across different instruments or missions. They provide a common baseline so that biases introduced by instrument response, data processing, or model assumptions can be identified and corrected.

Selection criteria typically include: stable, well-determined orbital and physical parameters; minimal confusion with other bodies; representative range of planetary types or observational regimes; and accessibility of independent measurements to verify the assumed values. The choice of referanseplanet is context-dependent; different studies or missions may adopt different standards.

Outside of research, the term can appear in educational or simulation contexts where a referanseplanet is defined to illustrate calibration concepts or to demonstrate how measurement uncertainties propagate through models.