SIZE IN SPACE

moon · Object guide

How big is Moon?

Our nearest familiar comparison.

One scale. Two worlds.True diameter scale
Moon and Earth to scaleTheir diameters differ by a factor of 3.667. 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

3.667× 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.

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

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

How we measure size →
Mean diameter

3,474.8 km

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

The Moon and Earth are a natural starting pair. Their scale difference is large enough to notice immediately, yet small enough that neither disk disappears.

Size without distance

The gap in this scene is chosen to make the outlines readable. It is not the Earth–Moon distance. A drawing that represented both diameter and orbital separation at once would need a very different layout.

Open Earth versus the Moon, then turn Earth into a marble to find the matching miniature Moon.

Measurement source

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

Source references