The planets in our solar system are each very unique for various reasons. When it comes to their measurable sizes in diameter, the planets vary greatly. Jupiter, for example, is approximately 11 times the diameter of the Earth. Mercury, on the other hand, is 2.6 times smaller in diameter than the Earth. Below you will find a list of the planet’s mean diameters from largest to smallest. We have included Pluto as further reference point for additional information.
1. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system at 139,822 km in diameter. This means that Jupiter is actually more than 28.5 times larger in diameter than the smallest planet, Mercury.
2. Saturn measures out to be 116,464 km in diameter. This makes Saturn over 9 times bigger in diameter than the Earth. This number does not include the actual rings of the planet as they are considered a separate entity.
3. Uranus comes in at third on the list with a maximum diameter of 50,724 km, making the planet almost 4 times the diameter of Earth and over 10 times the diameter of Mercury.
4. Neptune, often described as Uranus’s “twin planet” due to their many similar characteristics, is also very close in size to Uranus. Neptune is 49,248 km in diameter, making Uranus only 1.3 times larger in diameter.
5.Our home planet Earth is the fifth largest of the eight planets and measures in at 12,756 km in diameter. This means that Earth is actually approximately 2.6 times the diameter of the smallest planet, Mercury. Another size comparison puts Earth at 3.67 times the diameter of the Moon.
6.Earth’s “twin planet” Venus is only slightly smaller than Earth with a diameter of 12,104 km. Venus also has a similar gravitational pull of 8.87m/s2 to that of Earth’s 9.81m/s2 .
7. The red planet of Mars has a diameter of only 6,780 km. This makes it 20.5 times smaller in diameter than Jupiter. Mars is 53% of the diameter of planet Earth, but only has approximately 38% of the surface area of our planet.
8. Mercury, the smallest planet, has a diameter of 4,780 km. This makes Jupiter, the largest planet, over 28.5 times bigger in diameter than Mercury.
9. Pluto, now designated as a dwarf planet, has a diameter of 2,400 km. This means that Pluto is over 59 times smaller in diameter than the massive Jupiter.