To determine how large a particular planet is, you need to consider criteria such as its mass and diameter. The largest planet in the solar system is 300 times larger than Earth, and its diameter exceeds the earth by eleven times. A list of the largest planets in the solar system, their names, sizes, photos and what they are known for, read in our rating.

Comparison table of planetary characteristics

Diameter, mass, length of day, and orbital radius are relative to the Earth.

9. Pluto, diameter ~ 2370 km

Pluto is the second largest dwarf planet in the solar system after Ceres. Even when he was one of the full-fledged planets, he was far from the largest of them, since its mass is 1/6 of the mass of the moon. Pluto has a diameter of 2370 km and consists of stone and ice. It is not surprising that on its surface it is quite cold - minus 230 ° C

8. Mercury ∼ 4,879 km

A tiny world with a mass of almost twenty times less than the mass of the Earth, and a diameter of 2 ½ less than the earth. In fact, Mercury is closer in size to the Moon than to the Earth and today is considered the smallest of the planets of the Solar system. Mercury has a rocky surface dotted with craters. Recently, the Messenger spacecraft confirmed that there is icy water in the deep craters on that side of Mercury, which is forever shrouded in shadow.

7. Mars ∼ 6,792 km

Mars is about half the size of Earth and has a diameter of 6.792 km. However, its mass is only a tenth of the earth. This not too big planet of the Solar system, the fourth closest to the Sun, has an inclination of the axis of rotation of 25.1 degrees. Due to this, there is a change of seasons, as on Earth. And the day (salt) on Mars is 24 hours and 40 minutes. In the southern hemisphere, summers are hot and winters are cold, while there are no such sharp contrasts in the northern hemisphere, both summers and winters are mild. We can say ideal conditions for building a greenhouse and growing potatoes.

6. Venus ∼ 12 100 km

In sixth place in the ranking of the largest and smallest planets is the celestial body, named after the goddess of beauty. It is so close to the Sun that the first appears in the evening and the last disappears in the morning. Therefore, Venus has long been known as the “evening star” and “morning star”. It has a diameter of 12,100 km, which is almost comparable to the size of the Earth (1,000 km less), and 80% of the mass of the Earth.

The surface of Venus mainly consists of large plains of volcanic origin, the rest of it consists of gigantic mountains. The atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide, with thick clouds of sulfur dioxide. This atmosphere has the strongest greenhouse effect known in the solar system, and the temperature on Venus is held at around 460 degrees.

5. Earth ∼ 12 742 km

The third planet in proximity to the Sun. Earth is the only planet in the solar system on which there is life. It has an axis tilt of 23.4 degrees, its diameter is 12 742 km, and its mass is 5.972 septillion kg.

The age of our planet is very respectable - 4.54 billion years. And most of this time she is accompanied by a natural satellite - the moon. It is believed that the Moon was formed when a large celestial body, namely Mars, acted on the Earth, causing the ejection of enough material so that the Moon could form. The moon had a stabilizing effect on the tilt of the Earth’s axis and is a source of tides of the oceans.

“It is inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when it is obvious that it is the Ocean” - Arthur Clark.

4. Neptune ∼ 49,000 km

The gas giant planet of the solar system is the eighth celestial body in proximity to the sun. The diameter of Neptune is 49,000 km, and the mass is 17 times greater than the earth. It has powerful cloud bands (they, along with storms and cyclones, were photographed by Voyager 2). The wind speed on Neptune reaches 600 m / s. Due to its great distance from the Sun, the planet is one of the coldest, the temperature in the upper atmosphere reaches minus 220 degrees Celsius.

3. Uranus ∼ 50 000 km

On the third line of the list of the largest planets in the solar system is the seventh closest to the Sun, the third largest and fourth heaviest of the worlds. The diameter of Uranus (50,000 km) is four times that of the Earth, and its mass is 14 times that of our planet.

Uranus has 27 known moons with sizes ranging from more than 1,500 km to less than 20 km in diameter. Satellites of the planet are made up of ice, rocks and other trace elements. Uranus itself has a rocky core surrounded by a cover of water, ammonia and methane. The atmosphere consists of hydrogen, helium and methane with an upper layer of clouds.

2. Saturn ∼ 116,400 km

The second of the largest planets in the solar system is known for its ring system. She was first spotted by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Galileo believed that Saturn is accompanied by two other planets that are located on either side of it. In 1655, Christian Huygens with the help of an advanced telescope was able to see Saturn in sufficient detail to suggest that there are rings around it. They stretch from 7,000 km to 120,000 km above the surface of Saturn, which itself has a radius of 9 times that of the Earth (57,000 km) and a mass of 95 times that of the Earth.

1. Jupiter ∼ 142 974 km

The first number is the winner of the planetary heavyweight charts, Jupiter is the largest planet, bearing the name of the Roman king of the gods. One of the five planets visible to the naked eye. It is so massive that it would contain the rest of the worlds of the solar system, minus the sun. The total diameter of Jupiter is 142.984 km. Given its size, Jupiter rotates very quickly, making one turn every 10 hours. At its equator, there is a rather large centrifugal force, due to which the planet has a pronounced hump. That is, the diameter of the equator of Jupiter is 9,000 km larger than the diameter measured at the poles. As expected of the king, Jupiter has many satellites (more than 60), but most of them are quite small (less than 10 km in diameter). The four largest moons discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei are named after the favorites of Zeus, the Greek counterpart of Jupiter.

What is known about Jupiter

Before the invention of the telescope, planets were considered as objects wandering in the sky. Therefore, the word "planet" from Greek is translated as "wanderer." Our solar system has 8 known planets, although initially 9 celestial objects were recognized as planets. In the 1990s, Pluto was “demoted” from the status of a true planet to the status of a dwarf planet. AND the largest planet in the solar system is called Jupiter.

The radius of the planet is 69,911 km. That is, all the largest planets of the solar system could fit inside Jupiter (see photo). And if we take only our Earth, then 1300 of these planets will fit inside the body of Jupiter.

This is the fifth planet from the sun. It is named after the Roman god.

The atmosphere of Jupiter consists of gases, mainly helium and hydrogen, which is why it is also called the gas giant of the solar system. The surface of Jupiter consists of an ocean of liquid hydrogen.

Jupiter has the strongest magnetosphere of all other planets, 20 thousand times stronger than the Earth’s magnetosphere.

The largest planet in the solar system rotates around its axis faster than all "neighbors". One full revolution takes a little less than 10 hours (the Earth takes 24 hours). Because of this rapid rotation, Jupiter is convex at the equator and flattened at the poles. The planet is 7 percent wider at the equator than at the poles.

The largest celestial body of the solar system revolves around the Sun once in 11.86 Earth years.

Jupiter broadcasts radio waves so strong that they can be detected from Earth. They come in two forms:

1. strong bursts that occur when Io, the closest of Jupiter’s large moons, passes through certain regions of the planet’s magnetic field;
2. continuous radiation from the surface and high energy particles of Jupiter in its radiation belts. These radio waves can help scientists explore the oceans on the satellites of the space giant.

The most unusual feature of Jupiter

Undoubtedly, the main feature of Jupiter is the Big Red Spot - a giant hurricane that has been raging for over 300 years.

• The diameter of the Great Red Spot is three times the diameter of the Earth, and its edge rotates around the center and counterclockwise at a tremendous speed (360 km per hour).
• The color of the storm, which usually varies from brick red to light brown, may be due to the presence of small amounts of sulfur and phosphorus.
• The spot then increases, then decreases over time. One hundred years ago, education was twice as much as it is now and significantly brighter.

There are many other spots on Jupiter, but for some reason they only exist in the Southern Hemisphere for a long time.

Rings of jupiter

Unlike Saturn’s rings, which are clearly visible from Earth even through small telescopes, Jupiter’s rings are very difficult to see. Their existence became known thanks to data from Voyager 1 (NASA's spacecraft) in 1979, but their origin was a mystery. Data from the Galileo spacecraft that revolved around Jupiter from 1995 to 2003 later confirmed that these rings were created by meteoroid impacts on small nearby satellites of the largest planet.

Jupiter's ring system includes:

1. halo - the inner layer of small particles;
2. the main ring is brighter than the other two;
3. outer "spider" ring.

The main ring is flattened, its thickness is about 30 km, and its width is 6400 km. The halo extends halfway from the main ring down to the tops of the Jovian clouds and expands, interacting with the magnetic field of the planet. The third ring is known as the spider ring because of its transparency.

Meteorites falling on the surface of the small inner moons of Jupiter raise dust, which then falls into orbit around Jupiter, forming rings.

Jupiter's moons

Jupiter has 53 confirmed moons revolving around it, and another 14 unconfirmed moons.

The four largest moons of Jupiter - they are called Galilean satellites - are Io, Ganymede, Europe and Callisto. The honor of their discovery belongs to Galileo Galilei, and this was in 1610. They are named after the close ones of Zeus (whose Roman counterpart is Jupiter).

Volcanoes rage on Io; in Europe there is an icy ocean and, possibly, there is life in it; Ganymede is the largest of the satellites in the solar system, and has its own magnetosphere; and Callisto has the lowest reflectance of the four Galilean satellites. There is a version that the surface of this moon consists of a dark, colorless rock.

Video: Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system

We hope that we have given a complete answer to the question, which planet of the solar system is the largest!

Watch the video: The Smallest And Largest Planets in the Solar System. Trick to Remember Planets in Order of Size (November 2024).