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Encyclopedia > Characteristics of planets
CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANETS
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| Name of the planet |
Mercury | Venus | Earth | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto (*) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of satellites | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 80 | 83+3 | 27 | 14+1 | 5 |
| Semi-major axis in astronomical units | 0.3870983 | 0.7233298 | 1.0000010 | 1.5236793 | 5.202603 | 9.554909 | 19.21845 | 30.11039 | 39.54470 |
| Semi-major axis in millions of km | 57.909083 | 108.2086 | 149.5980 | 227.9392 | 778.2983 | 1429.394 | 2875.039 | 4504.450 | 5915.803 |
| Eccentricity of the orbit | 0.20563 | 0.00677 | 0.01671 | 0.09340 | 0.04850 | 0.05555 | 0.04638 | 0.00946 | 0.2490 |
| Inclination of orbit on ecliptic | 7°.0050 | 3°.3947 | 0° | 1°.8497 | 1°.3033 | 2°.4889 | 0°.7732 | 1°.7700 | 17°.1422 |
| Inclination of equator on ecliptic | 0.01° | 177.36° | 23.44° | 25.19° | 3.13° | 26.73° | 97.86° | 28.31° | 122.52° |
| Period of sidereal revolution | 87.9693 d | 224.701 d | 365.256 d | 1 year & 321.730 d | 11 years & 314,84 d | 29 years & 166,98 d | 84 years & 7,48 d | 164 years & 281,3 d | 247 years & 362 d |
| Period of rotation | 58.65 d | 243.02 d | 23.935 hr | 24.62 hr | 9.92 hr | 10.66 hr | 17.24 hr | 16.11 hr | 6.39 d |
| Apparent equatorial diameter maximum | 13.0" | 65.4" | 25.7" | 50.1" | 20.8" | 4.1" | 2.11" | 0.1" | |
| Equatorial diameter (Earth=1) | 0.3825 | 0.9488 | 1 | 0.5326 | 11.2089 | 9.4335 | 4.0073 | 3.8826 | 0.1874 |
| Equatorial diameter in km |
4879.4 | 12103.6 | 12756.28 | 6794 | 142 984 | 120 536 | 51 118 | 49 528 | 2390 |
| Flatness | 0 | 0 | 1/298.257 | 1/154 | 1/15.4 | 1/10.2 | 1/44 | 1/59 | 0 |
| Volume (Earth=1) | 0.056 | 0.85 | 1 | 0.15 | 1317 | 757 | 62.9 | 57.5 | 0.007 |
| Mass (Sun=1) | 1/6023600 | 1/408523.71 | 1/332946.045 | 1/3 098 708 | 1/1 047.5654 | 1/3498.77 | 1/22905.35 | 1/19416.3 | 1/1.56.10-8 |
| Mass (Earth=1) | 0.055 | 0.815 | 1 | 0.107 | 317.83 | 95.16 | 14.54 | 17.15 | 0.0021 |
| Mass (kg) | 3.3018.1023 | 4.8685.1024 | 5.9736.1024 | 6.4185.1023 | 1.8986.1027 | 5.6846.1026 | 8.6831.1025 | 1.0243.1026 | 1.238.1022 |
| Mass (kg) planet+satellites |
3.3018.1023 | 4.8685.1024 | 6.0471.1024 | 6.4185.1023 | 1.899.1027 | 5.686.1026 | 8.684.1025 | 1.0246.1026 | 1.432.1022 |
| Density (Earth=1) | 0.984 | 0.95 | 1 | 0.71 | 0.24 | 0.125 | 0.23 | 0.30 | 0.31 |
| Density (Water=1) | 5.43 | 5.24 | 5.515 | 3.93 | 1.33 | 0.69 | 1.27 | 1.64 | 1.73 |
| Gravity at surface (Earth=1) | 0.38 | 0.90 | 1 | 0.38 | 2.53 | 1.07 | 0.90 | 1.14 | 0.06 |
| Apparent diameter of the Sun as seen from the planet | 1° 23' | 44' | 32' | 21' | 6' | 3' 21" | 1' 40" | 1' | 49" |
| Magnitude of the Sun as seen from the planet | -28.9 | -27.5 | -26.8 | -25.9 | -23.2 | -21.9 | -20.4 | -19.4 | -18.8 |
Note 1: in the table above, one year = 365.25 days ; in the table, day is written d and hour is written hr.
Note 2: Pluto has been kept in the table -even it is no more a planet- in order to be able to make comparisons.
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