The Solar System
Planet Distance From the Sun (AU*), Planet Equatorial Radius & Percent of Earth's Radius
Planet | Astronomical Units | Equatorial Radius | Percentage of Earth's |
Mercury | 0.3872 | 1,515.5 miles | 0.3824 |
Venus | 0.7233 | 3,760.5 miles | 0.9489 |
Earth | 1 | 3,963.1 miles | 1 |
Mars | 1.5237 | 2,110.79 miles | 0.5326 |
Jupiter | 5.2028 | 44,364.6 miles | 11.194 |
Saturn | 9.5388 | 37,282.2 miles | 9.41 |
Uranus | 19.1914 | 16,245.7 miles | 4.1 |
Neptune | 30.0611 | 15,099.3 miles | 3.8 |
Pluto | 39.5294 | 932.0 miles | 0.2351 |
* 1 astronomical unit = 93 million miles (92,955,807.3 miles)
The equatorial and polar diameter of the Sun differ by only 6.2 miles. The mean radius of the Sun is 432,450 miles.
432,450 / 3963.1 = 109.119 that of Earth.
Planetary Movement -
Planets revolve about the Sun in counter-clockwise fashion as seen from 'north' of the solar plane. With the exception of Venus, the planets also rotate in prograde, counter-clockwise fashion. Uranus is unusual for its 97.77 degree axial tilt. One pole nearly always faces the Sun while the other faces away.
The Earth completes one revolution around the Sun every 365,256 days, traveling 584 million miles at an orbital speed averaging 67,000 miles per hour.
Earth rotates once every 23 hours, 39 minutes and 4.1 seconds, spinning 1,040 miles per hour at the equator.
The moon is 238,855 miles from the Earth (0.002569 AU), and rotates only once per revolution. The lunar equatorial radius is 1079.6 miles - 0.27 that of Earth.
Mercury revolves around the Sun every 88 days and rotates once every 58.64 days.
Venus revolution: 224.7 days -- rotates (retrograde) every 243 days. A day on Venus is longer than a Venusian year, and the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east.
Mars revolution: 668 days -- rotates every 24 hours, 39 minutes.
It takes Jupiter 11.86 years to revolve around the Sun. Each day on the planet is only 9.92496 (Earth) hours long. It is the fastest known rotating body in the solar system.
The Milkyway rotates once over an estimated 240 million year period, with an orbital speed of 130 miles per second - 468,000 mph.
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