how much big are you

Saturday, April 17, 2010



The Sun is the Solar System's star, and by far its chief component. Its large mass (332,900 Earth masses)
Mercury (0.4 AU from the Sun) is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest planet in the Solar System (0.055 Earth masses)
Venus (0.7 AU from the Sun) is close in size to Earth, (0.815 Earth masses)
Earth (1 AU from the Sun) is the largest and densest of the inner planets, the only one known to have current geological activity, and is the only place in the universe where life is known to exist
Mars (1.5 AU from the Sun) is smaller than Earth and Venus (0.107 Earth masses).
Asteroid beltThe main asteroid belt occupies the orbit between Mars and Jupiter, between 2.3 and 3.3 AU from the Sun. It is thought to be remnants from the Solar System's formation that failed to coalesce because of the gravitational interference of Jupiter
The asteroid belt contains tens of thousands, possibly millions, of objects over one kilometre in diameter. Despite this, the total mass of the main belt is unlikely to be more than a thousandth of that of the Earth.
Jupiter (5.2 AU), at 318 Earth masses, is 2.5 times all the mass of all the other planets put together.
Saturn (9.5 AU), distinguished by its extensive ring system, has several similarities to Jupiter, such as its atmospheric composition and magnetosphere. Although Saturn has 60% of Jupiter's volume, it is less than a third as massive, at 95 Earth masses, making it the least dense planet in the Solar System.
Uranus (19.6 AU), at 14 Earth masses, is the lightest of the outer planets.
Neptune (30 AU), though slightly smaller than Uranus, is more massive (equivalent to 17 Earths) and therefore more dense.
Pluto (39 AU average), a dwarf planet, is the largest known object in the Kuiper belt.

1 Astronomical Unit = 149 598 000 kilometers