Gas giant

A Gas Giant is a type of planet which is composed mainly of gases such as fluorine, methane and ammonia. The United Federation of Planets classifies such planets as Class J, Class 6, Class 7, and Class 9.

The planets are generally anywhere from 2 billion to 10 billion years old, and have a diameter of 50,000 km to 140,000 km. Often these planets have a solid rocky or metallic core. Gas giants are usually found in the cold zone of an ecosphere of a solar system. (Star Trek: Star Charts). Gas giants are made up of the same materials found in stars, however they are not large enough to sustain nuclear fusion and become stars. However, it was demonstrated that if two gas giants collided, the additional mass would be large enough to create a self-sustaining nuclear reaction - creating a new star in the process. (TNG episode Ship in a Bottle).

The Sol system has four gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Andoria - which is the homeworld of the Andorians - is a moon orbiting a gas giant.