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Encyclopedia > Numbers about the solar system XIX

THE LARGEST BODIES OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM



 
Credit : NASA/JPL
The bodies visited by the space probe VOYAGER


The measurements made in situ by the space probes allowed us to know precisely the size and form of many solar system bodies.

Until the XXth century, the measurements of the diameters of the largest solar system bodies have been made thanks to visual micrometers. In the some cases, the observation of occultations allowed to get a precise value. 

  This table provides the equatorial diameters for the largest bodies (sorted by diameters in km). The distance to the Earth makes that the apparent size is quite different than the real size. In this table, the two other columns provide the minimal and maximal values of the apparent diameter (in arcsec). 

Click on the head of the column to sort by the different parameters.

 
Name  Diameter  
 (km) 
 Diameter   
 angular   
 minimal
  
  (") 
 Diameter   
 angular   
 maximal
  
 (") 
 Sun  1 392 000  1890 (31'.5)  1950 (32'.5)
 Jupiter  142 984  30.5  49.5
 Saturn  120 536  15.0  20.5
 Uranus  51 118  3.3  4.3
 Neptune  49 528  2.4  2.9
 Earth  12 756   -    - 
 Venus  12 104  9.6  66.0
 Mars  6 794  3.5  26.0
 Ganymede (J3)  5 268  1.1  1.8
 Titan (S6)  5150  0.6  0.9
 Mercury  4 879  4.6  12.9
 Callisto (J4)  4 806  1.0  1.7
 Io (J1)  3 660  0.8  1.3
 Moon  3 475  1758 (29'.3)  2010 (33'.5)
 Europa (J2)  3 130  0.7  1.1
 Triton (N1)  2 705  0.13  0.16
 Pluto  2 390  0.07  0.11
 Titania (U3)  1 578  0.10  0.13
 Rhea (S5)  1 528  0.19  0.26
 Oberon (U4)  1 523  0.10  0.13
 Iapetus (S8)  1 436  0.18  0.24
 Charon (P1)  1 186  0.03  0.05
 Umbriel (U2)  1 169  0.08  0.10
 Ariel (U1)  1 162  0.08  0.10
 Dione (S4)  1 120  0.14  0.19
 Tethys (S3)  1 060  0.13  0.18
 (1) Ceres  934  0.32  0.84
 (2) Pallas  526  0.16  0.63
Enceladus (S2)  513  0.06  0.09
 (4) Vesta  510  0.20  0.62

Credit : W. Thuillot, IMCCE/observatoire de Paris