The diameter of the planets of the solar system in comparison

Planets surrounding the Earth are significantly different from each other in size and shape. The diameter of some planets of the solar system is quite small and in some cases does not exceed the diameter of the satellites of other planets. And it is very curious! For example, the planet of the smallest diameter is Mercury, smaller than the satellite of Jupiter Ganymede, and the satellite of Saturn, Titan. In addition, some planets are wider at the equator, compared with their poles, which is a consequence of differences in the composition of the substances that make up these planets, and differences in the angular velocities of their rotation around their own axis. As a result, individual planets are an almost perfect sphere, and some are ellipsoids. Accordingly, the diameter of the latter is a variable value.

Location

In the solar system, planets in order from the Sun go in a certain sequence. Consider her. Actually, the Sun, the closest to it is Mercury, followed by Venus, further our Earth, and after it Mars. Mars is followed by two giant planets - Jupiter and Saturn, and Uranus and Neptune close this row. The last planet - Pluto, has relatively recently lost the honorary status of the planet after violent astronomical discussions. Until now, it remains unchanged. The diameter of the planets of the solar system has great differences.

Relatively small solids

With a diameter of only 4879 km, the first planet Mercury is not much larger than our Moon, whose diameter is 3474 km. At the same time, due to a very long period of revolution around its axis (58.646 days), Mercury is an almost perfect ball. The next planet is Venus, which is often called the sister of the Earth, because their diameter is almost the same and is 12104 km at Venus and 12756 km at Earth. Venus has the correct spherical shape, due to the low speed of rotation: one revolution in 243.05 days, that is, the Venusian day is equal to 8 months of earth time. The difference between planet Earth and Venus lies in the elliptical shape of the Earth, arising from a relatively high speed of rotation. This makes the Earth related to Mars, the days on which are almost equal to each other. By the way, the difference in the diameters of these planets of the solar system, measured at the equator and along the meridian, is the same value - 40 km, although Mars is almost two times smaller than the Earth, its diameter at the equator is only 6792.4 km.

Giant gas planets

We continue our study. The diameter of the planets of the solar system of Jupiter and Saturn is able to amaze the imagination. After all, both bodies are simply huge! Jupiter has a diameter of 142984 km and, having a circulation period around its axis of only 9 hours 55 minutes in combination with a predominantly gaseous composition, is a classical ellipsoid in shape, with a difference in distances measured along the equator and from pole to pole of 9726 km. The second planet Saturn also consists mainly of gas and also has a high angular velocity of rotation, as a result of which the difference in distances measured along the equator and meridian is almost 12,000 km. The diameter of this planet is 108728 km. The asteroid belt forms around Saturn its famous rings, which art workers love to portray. The next planet - Uranus, is not so big, its diameter is 50724 km. The rotation period around an almost terrestrial axis is 17 hours, but the composition is also gaseous, so the difference in equatorial and meridional diameters is a decent amount of 1,172 km. The last, that is, the planet farthest from the Sun, is Neptune. Its diameter is 49244 km, it is almost equal to Uranus, it also has an ellipsoidal shape with a distance difference of 846 km and a rotation speed almost identical to Uranus.

Summary

For the convenience of practical use, the diameter of the planets of the solar system in kilometers is given in the following table. Consider the features:

The location of the bodies in the above table corresponds to the order from the Sun. Very conditionally, if we take only the diameter of the planets of the solar system, they can be divided into four groups. The first group - relatively small bodies: Mars and Mercury, the second group - conditional "sisters": Venus and Earth, another group - gas giants: Jupiter and Saturn. The last group is the planets, also consisting mainly of gaseous compounds, but not as large as the giants already mentioned. This is Uranus and Neptune. Of course, the characteristics of the planets are not limited only by their size. Mankind has long been able to determine their masses, the acceleration of gravity on their surfaces and much more.