My Science School

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter is so big that all the other planets in the solar system could fit inside it. More than 1,300 Earths would fit inside Jupiter.

Naturally, Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field of all the planets, with a field that is 20,000 times that of Earth’s magnetic field. The gravity is much different too. Having more gravitational pull, someone standing on Jupiter would measure 2.4 times their Earth weight on Jupiter. That means if you weigh 120 pounds on Earth, then you would weigh 288 pounds on Jupiter.

Earth is much smaller than Jupiter. Earth is about 3,959 miles, while Jupiter measures in at 43,441 miles. Earth is 5.972 × 10^24 kg, while Jupiter is 1.898 × 10^27 kg. While Earth only has one moon, Jupiter has 16 confirmed moons. Jupiter also has four rings.

With such a size different, it only makes sense that 1,300 Earths could fit inside of Jupiter. It would take 3.5 Earths alone just to fit across Jupiter’s red spot. Jupiter is massive compared to our tiny planet, so it would naturally take this many Earths to fill Jupiter.

Credit : The Nine Planets

Picture Credit : Google

A year on Mercury takes 87.97 Earth days; it takes 87.97 Earth days for Mercury to orbit the sun once.

Mercury's highly eccentric, egg-shaped orbit takes the planet as close as 29 million miles (47 million kilometers) and as far as 43 million miles (70 million kilometers) from the Sun. It speeds around the Sun every 88 days, traveling through space at nearly 29 miles (47 kilometers) per second, faster than any other planet.

Mercury spins slowly on its axis and completes one rotation every 59 Earth days. But when Mercury is moving fastest in its elliptical orbit around the Sun (and it is closest to the Sun), each rotation is not accompanied by sunrise and sunset like it is on most other planets. The morning Sun appears to rise briefly, set, and rise again from some parts of the planet's surface. The same thing happens in reverse at sunset for other parts of the surface. One Mercury solar day (one full day-night cycle) equals 176 Earth days – just over two years on Mercury.

Mercury's axis of rotation is tilted just 2 degrees with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. That means it spins nearly perfectly upright and so does not experience seasons as many other planets do.

Credit : NASA Science

Picture Credit : Google