SIZE IN SPACE

planet · Object guide

How big is Earth?

Everything familiar, inside one small circle.

One scale. Two worlds.True diameter scale
Earth and Jupiter to scaleTheir diameters differ by a factor of 10.973. Illustrations show body diameter, not separation in space.

Body diameters to scale. Positions and surface artwork are illustrative; Saturn’s rings are excluded.

A change of perspective

10.973× the diameter. See how the two worlds measure up.

Diameter is a distance across an object. Volume grows with the cube of that distance.

Choose a size to bring this comparison down to Earth.

Earth: Twice the source mean radius; body diameter only, excluding rings.

Jupiter: Twice the source mean radius; body diameter only, excluding rings.

How we measure size →
Mean diameter

12,742 km

Twice the source mean radius; body diameter only, excluding rings.

Earth is our anchor for understanding the unfamiliar. Start here, then put Jupiter or the Sun beside it. The circle that holds every everyday journey quickly becomes a small detail in the scene.

How big is Earth?

The value here is a volume-equivalent mean diameter: the diameter of a sphere with the same volume. Earth is not a perfect sphere, so an equatorial diameter produces a slightly different comparison.

Turn Earth into something you can hold

Set Earth as the first object and leave the marble at 2 cm. The other object is scaled down by exactly the same factor. Try the Earth and Jupiter comparison to begin.

Measurement source

Planetary Physical Parameters — NASA JPL. Twice the source mean radius; body diameter only, excluding rings.

Source references