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PLANETS AND STARS SIZES  
   


Sometimes it is difficult to figure out how big our planet is. Even more difficult is to immagine the size of our star, the Sun.
Here I list a series of figures where you can make eye comparisons of the sizes of the most famous planets and stars.

terrestrial planets

O.k. here you see the terrestrial planets plus Pluto. Terrestrial planets are made of silicates and they have a metal core.
This means that they are quite dense. Did you know that Mars is so much smaller than the Earth? It's radius is about the half of the Earths one.

giant planets

Now the so called giant or gaseous planets. They are made of light elements in the form of gas, liquid or solid compound like water, carbon dioxide,
ammonia, methane, etc. They often have an 'icy' core and a very low density (e.g. Saturn would float on water). The volume of Jupiter is so big that
all other planets could fit comfortably into it.

the sun

The Sun is a star, thus it's way bigger than any imaginable planet. Its mass is more than 99% of the total mass of the Solar system.
So, why does it look so small in the sunny sky? 'Cause it is about 150 milions chilometers away form the Earth.

more stars

Here you can compare the size of the Sun with other popoular stars. Yes, the Sun ain't that big. It is in fact a small star, it's a main sequence star,
spectral type G2. For example, Arcturus is an orange-red giant star, type K 1.5. Its diameter is about 26 times the Suns.

super giant stars

In this pic the sun has a 1 pixel size. The two 'monsters' are two red supergiants. The diameter of Antares is 800 milions chilometers, that of the Sun is
about 1.4 milions chilometers.


So, could you image that our Earth is that small? And what about the Sun, its size is negligible when compared with Antares.
More questions about planets and stars? contact me


For people who likes videos at best, I suggest to take a look at one of these links:

The biggest star know to man

Largest star know to man




















and even more spectacular: the REAL size of the universe

what? you like more 'dynamic' stuff? Well, then space phenomena



















pistol star

If you scrolled until here, you deserve a gift! Here it is: Pistol star, 600 times larger than the Sun. And just imagine, there might be
another star, named Canis Mayor VY, that might be 2'100 times larger than the Sun, i.e. 3.5 times larger then Pistol star !  Amazing !!!
I've made a sketch for eye comparison: on the left 'Pistol Star' on the right 'Canis Mayor VY'.

Confused and dazed? Well, try to figure out this: draw a circle with 1 mm diameter (0.04 inches), so this represents the Earth. Canis Mayor VY would
be represented by a circle with a diameter of 200 meters (656 feet)

eye comparison