The largest planet in the solar. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system

To determine how big a particular planet is, you need to take into account criteria such as its mass and diameter. The largest planet in the solar system is 300 times the size of Earth., and its diameter exceeds the earth by eleven times. A list of the largest planets in the solar system, their names, sizes, photos and what they are known for, read in our rating.

Diameter, mass, length of day and orbital radius are relative to the Earth.

9. Pluto, diameter ∼ 2370 km

Pluto is the second largest dwarf planet in the solar system after Ceres. Even when he was one of the full-fledged planets, he was far from the largest of them, since his mass is equal to 1/6 of the mass of the moon. Pluto has a diameter of 2370 km and is made up of rock and ice. It is not surprising that it is quite cold on its surface - minus 230 ° C.

8. Mercury ∼ 4,879 km

A tiny world with a mass of almost twenty times less than the mass of the Earth, and a diameter of 2 ½ less than the Earth. In fact, Mercury is closer in size to the Moon than to the Earth, and today is considered the smallest of the planets in the solar system. Mercury has a rocky surface dotted with craters. The Messenger spacecraft recently confirmed that deep craters on the perpetually shadowed side of Mercury contain icy water.

7. Mars ∼ 6,792 km

Mars is about half the size of Earth and has a diameter of 6.792 km. However, its mass is only a tenth of the earth's. This not too big planet of the solar system, the fourth closest to the Sun, has an axial tilt of 25.1 degrees. Due to this, the seasons change on it, as on Earth. A day (sol) on Mars is equal to 24 hours and 40 minutes. In the southern hemisphere, summers are hot and winters are cold, while in the northern hemisphere there are no such sharp contrasts, where both summer and winter are mild. We can say ideal conditions for building a greenhouse and growing potatoes.

6. Venus ∼ 12,100 km

In sixth place in the ranking of the largest and smallest planets is a celestial body named after the goddess of beauty. It is so close to the Sun that it appears first in the evening and last to disappear in the morning. Therefore, Venus has long been known as the "evening star" and "morning star". It has a diameter of 12,100 km, which is almost comparable to the size of the Earth (1000 km less), and 80% of the mass of the Earth.

The surface of Venus mainly consists of large plains of volcanic origin, the rest - of giant mountains. The atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide, with thick clouds of sulfur dioxide. This atmosphere has the strongest greenhouse effect known in the solar system, and the temperature on Venus is kept at around 460 degrees.

5. Earth ∼ 12,742 km

The third planet closest to the Sun. Earth is the only planet in the solar system that has life. It has an axial tilt of 23.4 degrees, its diameter is 12,742 km, and its mass is 5.972 septillion kg.

The age of our planet is very respectable - 4.54 billion years. And most of this time it is accompanied by a natural satellite - the Moon. It is believed that the Moon was formed when a large celestial body, namely Mars, impacted the Earth, causing enough material to be ejected so that the Moon could form. The Moon has had a stabilizing effect on the tilt of the Earth's axis and is the source of the ebb and flow of the oceans.

“It is rather inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when it is obvious that it is Ocean” - Arthur Clarke.

4. Neptune ∼ 49,000 km

The gas giant planet of the solar system is the eighth celestial body closest to the Sun. The diameter of Neptune is 49,000 km, and the mass is 17 times greater than the earth. It has powerful cloud bands (they, along with storms and cyclones, were photographed by Voyager 2). The wind speed on Neptune reaches 600 m / s. Due to its great distance from the Sun, the planet is one of the coldest, with temperatures reaching minus 220 degrees Celsius in the upper atmosphere.

3. Uranus ∼ 50,000 km

On the third line of the list of the largest planets in the solar system is the seventh closest to the Sun, the third largest and the fourth heaviest of the worlds. The diameter of Uranus (50,000 km) is four times the Earth's, and its mass is 14 times the mass of our planet.

Uranus has 27 known moons ranging in size from over 1500 km to less than 20 km in diameter. The planet's moons are made up of ice, rocks, and other trace elements. Uranus itself has a rocky core, surrounded by a cover of water, ammonia and methane. The atmosphere consists of hydrogen, helium and methane with a top layer of clouds.

2. Saturn ∼ 116,400 km

The second of the largest planets in the solar system is known for its ring system. She was first seen by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Galileo believed that Saturn is accompanied by two other planets that are on either side of it. In 1655, Christian Huygens, using an improved telescope, was able to see Saturn in sufficient detail to suggest that there are rings around it. They extend from 7,000 km to 120,000 km above the surface of Saturn, which itself has a radius 9 times that of the Earth (57,000 km) and a mass 95 times that of the Earth.

1. Jupiter ∼ 142,974 km

Number one is the winner of the planetary heavy hit parade, Jupiter is the largest planet bearing the name of the Roman king of the gods. One of the five planets visible to the naked eye. It is so massive that it would contain the rest of the worlds of the solar system, minus the sun. The total diameter of Jupiter is 142.984 km. Given its size, Jupiter rotates very quickly, making one rotation every 10 hours. At its equator, there is a rather large centrifugal force, due to which the planet has a pronounced hump. That is, the diameter of Jupiter's equator is 9000 km larger than the diameter measured at the poles. As befits a king, Jupiter has many satellites (more than 60) but most of them are quite small (less than 10 km in diameter). The four largest moons, discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei, are named after the favorites of Zeus, the Greek counterpart of Jupiter.

What is known about Jupiter

Before the invention of the telescope, planets were viewed as objects roaming the sky. Therefore, the word "planet" from Greek is translated as "wanderer". Our solar system has 8 known planets, although originally 9 celestial objects were recognized as planets. In the 1990s, Pluto was "demoted" from the status of a true planet to the status of a dwarf planet. AND The largest planet in the solar system is called Jupiter..

The radius of the planet is 69,911 km. That is, all the largest planets in the solar system could fit inside Jupiter (see photo). And if we take only our Earth, then 1300 such planets will fit inside the body of Jupiter.

It is the fifth planet from the Sun. It is named after a Roman god.

Jupiter's atmosphere is made up of gases, mainly helium and hydrogen, which is why it is also called the gas giant of the solar system. Jupiter's surface is made up of an ocean of liquid hydrogen.

Jupiter has the strongest magnetosphere of all the other planets, 20,000 times stronger than Earth's magnetosphere.

The largest planet in the solar system rotates around its axis faster than all the "neighbors". One complete revolution takes just under 10 hours (Earth takes 24 hours). Because of this rapid rotation, Jupiter is convex at the equator and "flattened" at the poles. The planet is 7 percent wider at the equator than at the poles.

The largest celestial body in the solar system revolves around the Sun once every 11.86 Earth years.

Jupiter broadcasts radio waves so strong that they can be detected from Earth. They come in two forms:

1. strong spikes that occur when Io, the closest of Jupiter's large moons, passes through certain regions of the planet's magnetic field;
2. continuous radiation from the surface and high energy particles of Jupiter in its radiation belts. These radio waves could help scientists explore the oceans on the space giant's satellites.

The most unusual feature of Jupiter

Undoubtedly, the main feature of Jupiter is the Great Red Spot - a giant hurricane that has been raging for more than 300 years.

• The diameter of the Great Red Spot is three times the diameter of the Earth, and its edge rotates around the center and counterclockwise at a tremendous speed (360 km per hour).
• The color of the storm, which typically ranges from brick red to light brown, may be due to the presence of small amounts of sulfur and phosphorus.
• The spot either increases or decreases over time. A hundred years ago, education was twice as large as it is now and much brighter.

There are many other spots on Jupiter, but only in the Southern Hemisphere do they exist for some reason for a long time.

Rings of Jupiter

Unlike Saturn's rings, which are clearly visible from Earth even through small telescopes, Jupiter's rings are very difficult to see. Their existence became known thanks to data from Voyager 1 (NASA spacecraft) in 1979, but their origin was a mystery. Data from the Galileo spacecraft that orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003 later confirmed that these rings were created by meteoroid impacts on small nearby moons of the largest planet.

Jupiter's ring system includes:

1. halo - inner layer of small particles;
2. the main ring is brighter than the other two;
3. outer "spider" ring.

The main ring is flattened, about 30 km thick and 6,400 km wide. The halo extends halfway from the main ring down to the Jovian cloud tops and expands as it interacts with the planet's magnetic field. The third ring is known as the spider ring due to its transparency.

Meteorites that strike the surface of Jupiter's small inner moons kick up dust, which then enters orbit around Jupiter, forming rings.

Jupiter has 53 confirmed moons orbiting it and 14 more unconfirmed moons.

Jupiter's four largest moons—called the Galilean moons—are Io, Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. The honor of their discovery belongs to Galileo Galilei, and it was in 1610. They are named after those close to Zeus (the Roman counterpart of which is Jupiter).

Volcanoes rage on Io; there is a subglacial ocean on Europa and, perhaps, there is life in it; Ganymede is the largest of the satellites in the solar system, and has its own magnetosphere; and Callisto has the lowest reflectivity of the four Galilean satellites. There is a version that the surface of this moon consists of a dark, colorless rock.

Video: Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system

We hope that we have given a complete answer to the question of which planet in the solar system is the largest!

The solar system is one of the most complex and incredibly interesting structures to study, both by specialists in this field and simply by lovers of the space theme. It is only a small part of the whole galaxy. It is striking not only the history of the appearance of space objects, but also their dimensions. What is the name of the largest planet in the solar system - not the Sun, it exceeds the size of the Earth by 300 times, and its diameter is 11 times larger than the earth's.

What is a planet

Before talking about which planet is the largest, it is worth understanding the concept of this object. A planet is a massive celestial body orbiting around a star. The heart of the solar system is the Sun, formed about 4.57 billion years ago by the gravitational compression of a cloud of gas and dust. This bright star is the main source of light and heat, both on Earth and other planets.

How many planets are in the solar system

The system is divided into internal and external groups. The closest to the Sun are the inner planets and small, compared to the stars, asteroids. The closest location is Mercury. It is the fastest moving celestial body in the system. Mars is famous for its red surface. The temperature of Venus reaches 400 degrees, which makes it one of the hottest. And the planet with the confirmed presence of life is the Earth, which has a natural satellite - the Moon.

Large planets of the solar system

The outer zone consists of larger planets. Among its heavy giants: Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Jupiter. They are located at a greater distance from the Sun than the inner group, due to which they have a colder climate and are distinguished by icy winds. The planets Uranus and Neptune are classified by astronomers as Ice Giants. All stars in the outer region have their own ring system.

Saturn

Saturn has the most extensive system of rings and belts. Their main constituents are ice particles, heavy elements and dust. The planet itself is made up of hydrogen with helium, water, methane, ammonia and other elements. The wind speed on Saturn reaches 1800 kilometers per hour, which can cause eddies. The research station is engaged in the study of the planet, the task of which is to analyze the structure of the rings. Saturn has 62 moons, the most famous of which is Titan.

Uranus

The coldest giant is Uranus. Its low temperature is associated with a distant location from the Sun. The surface of Uranus is mainly covered with ice and rocks, and the structure of the atmosphere includes hydrogen and helium. Clouds of solid ammonia, hydrogen and ice have also been detected. This planet differs in the axis of rotation, with a characteristic position “on its side”. It turns to the Sun either by the north or south pole, the equator and middle latitudes. This object has signs of seasonal changes in the form of increased weather activity. Uranus has 27 moons.

Neptune

Neptune has a large size, and is the fourth largest planet in diameter. In its atmosphere, the strongest winds rage, which can reach 2100 kilometers per hour, and the temperature is close to 220 degrees with a minus sign. In addition, traces of methane are observed in its atmosphere, giving it a blue tint. In 1989, the Voyager 2 expedition discovered a large dark spot in the planet's southern hemisphere. Neptune has 13 moons, including Triton. It was opened in the 20th century. Other celestial bodies were discovered later.

Jupiter

When asked which planet has the largest mass, we can safely say - Jupiter. The largest planet in the solar system has an upper layer made up of hydrogen, methane, ammonia and water. A number of phenomena have been recorded in Jupiter's atmosphere, including storms, lightning and auroras. Whirlwinds on the planet rush at an incredible speed - up to 640 kilometers per hour. As a result of a major storm, a large red spot formed on the surface of Jupiter, which became one of the main features of the giant. And because of the huge size of the planet, its parts rotate at different speeds.

What is the largest planet

Since 1970, 8 spacecraft have been studying the largest and heaviest planet Jupiter: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Voyagers, Pioneers, Galileo and others. This giant has a heavy mass, exceeding the earth's by 300 times. The largest planet in the solar system has the largest number of satellites - 69. Among them are the large Galileans - Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. They were discovered by the famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610.

Statistical data

Below are the main characteristics that the largest planet in the solar system has:

• weight: 1.8981 x 1027 kilograms;
• volume - 1.43128 × 1015 cubic kilometers;
• surface area - 6.1419 x 1010 square kilometers;
• average circumference - 4.39264 x 105 kilometers;
• density 1.326 grams per cubic centimeter;
• conditional orbital speed - 13.07 kilometers per second;
• inclination relative to the plane of the ecliptic - 1.03 degrees;
• apparent magnitude - 2.94 meters;
• surface pressure - 1 bar.

Is life possible on Jupiter?

Jupiter is a gas giant, where there is practically no water necessary for the formation of life processes. In addition, it does not have a hard surface, which allows the development of organisms other than microscopic masses. And because of the low temperature, reaching up to 175 degrees with a minus sign, organisms can freeze. The only space on the planet suitable for the development of life are the tops of the clouds, resistant to solar radiation. Free floating organisms can be designated here.

Video

Since school, we all know that the largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter. It is also gaseous. She also has satellites ... Perhaps this is all the information about Jupiter that is stored in the memory of most people after graduation. But after all, this is not only a large, but also a very interesting planet, and it is worth knowing a lot more about it. Although it is possible that in the near future we will have the opportunity to find out what is not known to scientists at the moment.

Education of Jupiter

Of course, no one can be absolutely sure of the correctness of the theory of the origin of the solar system in general and Jupiter in particular. However, the basic theory is as follows.

About 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system did not yet exist. There was only a cloud of gas and dust of unthinkable dimensions. This cloud is now called the Solar Nebula. Over time, gravity led to the fact that matter began to be absorbed into itself, and the Sun arose in the middle of the nebula.

After the birth of the star, the rest of the materials began to stick together. The smallest particles under the influence of gravity approached and coalesced, forming larger parts. The solar wind captured light helium and hydrogen, leaving rocks that later became the basis of the terrestrial planets. But at a significant distance from the Sun, the solar wind could not have a significant effect. This made it possible for light materials to combine and form the gas giant - Jupiter. Satellites, comets, asteroids appeared in a similar way.

In order for the gases that make up the planet not to be blown away by the solar wind, the gas giant had to form incredibly quickly. Even after the solid base of Jupiter reached a mass that is 10 times that of the Earth, the attraction was enough to hold light gases without fear of the influence of the solar wind. Despite the fact that Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, there are larger planets in the universe. But few celestial bodies were able to form at the same speed.

There is another theory of the origin of Jupiter - the instability disk model. The difference between this model and the basic one is that its followers believe that dust and gas were originally related. In this case, a planet like Jupiter could have come into being in as little as a thousand years, while the normal birth time of a planet is several million years.

The emergence of such a massive celestial body at the very beginning of the birth of the solar system most likely influenced the formation of other planets. The mass of Jupiter gave him the ability to change the trajectory of the movement of small planets flying by. It was his gravity that could contribute to the fact that some planets ended up on the inner boundaries of the solar system, while others - on the outer ones.

Discovery of Jupiter and moons

As such, the discovery of Jupiter was not. After all, this planet is visible at night with the naked eye. Therefore, it is simply impossible to say who first drew attention to it. It is known for sure that the planet was known in ancient times. The religious beliefs of Greek, Mesopotamian, Babylonian and other cultures were based, in particular, on knowledge of the existence of Jupiter.

Subsequently, in 1610, Galileo discovered that this celestial body has satellites. Jupiter is the largest planet in our star system. In the Galaxy, there are planets and larger than it. However, few planets can boast so many moons. To date, 67 natural satellites of Jupiter have been discovered, the largest and most famous of which are Io, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. These four satellites were discovered by Galileo, who in this way proved the theory of Copernicus, who claimed that it was not the Earth at all - the center of the universe.

Name history

Jupiter got its name in ancient times. It was named after the main god of the Romans - a worthy name for the planet, the largest of all known even today. It is interesting that the ancient Greeks called the same planet Zeus, by analogy with the Romans, because in Greek mythology the king of the gods is Zeus. But nevertheless, this name remained in Ancient Greece, only the Roman name of the planet has survived to our time.

Peculiarities

When a child asks which planet is the largest, we boldly answer that Jupiter. And we are right not only literally. After all, Jupiter is not just the largest in size of all the planets in the solar system. In addition, it is also much more massive than all the planets. Moreover, Jupiter is not heavier than each individual planet, and its weight is 2/3 greater than the weight of all the planets combined! Scientists believe that if the mass of Jupiter was 80 times greater, it would have every chance of becoming a star.

But not only the high mass gives Jupiter a resemblance to the Sun. Like our star, this planet is composed primarily of helium and hydrogen. It has 4 large moons and a large number of small moons. The Jupiter system is a solar system in miniature. Therefore, if a child asks about what is the largest solar planet, you can not correct him, but proudly answer: “Jupiter!”

If you look at this planet through a telescope, you can see beautiful light and dark stripes on it. These bands are the movements of the wind raging in the atmosphere. Its speed is about 640 km / h.

The Great Red Spot looks especially unusual in photographs of Jupiter. More precisely, it is not even the stain itself that is of interest, but what it is. The fact is that this is a hurricane, the wind speed at the edge of which reaches about 360 km / h. The dimensions of this storm exceed the diameter of the Earth three times. But even this is not the strangest thing in this phenomenon. The most amazing thing is that the storm has been observed for more than 300 years, stopping only for a short time. However, the possibility of its termination has not yet been confirmed, it is only a hypothesis. The spot is called Red because the clouds of Jupiter contain phosphorus and sulfur in the composition of ammonia crystals.

Jupiter's magnetic field is 20,000 times greater than Earth's. Like the planet itself, its magnetic field is the strongest in the solar system. Jupiter's electromagnetic fields are so strong that they damage specially protected aircraft that have been sent to study it.

Day

Jupiter is the largest planet. In addition, she is also the most "nimble". The fact is that this celestial body rotates around its axis faster than other known planets. And this is even taking into account its gigantic size. A day on Jupiter lasts less than 10 Earth hours. This speed of rotation has led to the fact that the planet is more convex at the equator, so the equator is 7% wider than the poles.

Atmosphere of Jupiter

The largest planet is of extraordinary interest to scientists. In the world of this giant, everything is determined by the composition of the atmosphere. The gas giant has no solid elements on its surface that an aircraft could land on. Jupiter's surface is made up of helium and hydrogen, with a small percentage of other gases present in the air.

Most of the giant's atmosphere is hydrogen (90%). Helium is about 10%. The rest, an extremely small part, includes ammonia, water vapor, methane and sulfur.

If we assume that it is possible to descend from the outer shell of Jupiter to its center, then we would meet with a strong increase in pressure and temperature. This is due to the separation of gases into layers. Deep under the shell, closer to the center of the planet, hydrogen is most likely in a liquid state. And even deeper, presumably, it passes into the metal. It is the gigantic reserves of hydrogen and helium that make Jupiter the heaviest planet in the solar system.

The temperature of Jupiter's atmosphere ranges from -150 degrees Celsius in the lower troposphere to 725 degrees Celsius on the planet's surface. A little higher is the thermosphere, which emits a glow. Heating comes from the Sun and from particles from the magnetosphere.

The upper layer of the atmosphere is the exosphere. It does not have a clear boundary, which allows gas particles to go on an interstellar journey.

Jupiter center

The largest planet in the solar system definitely has a dense core. Its composition cannot be studied, but it is known that it is surrounded by a liquid layer of metallic hydrogen containing helium. Wrapped around it is an atmosphere of molecular hydrogen.

The core weighs 10 times less than the Earth. Hydrogen around it is more than 80% of the diameter of the planet.

Satellites and rings

Jupiter has at least 63 moons. The most famous of them are the Galilean satellites.

The largest planet in the solar system, as expected, has the largest satellite in our system. This is not just the largest satellite, its size exceeds the size of some planets - Pluto and Mercury. In addition, it is the only satellite known to mankind that has a magnetic field.

Io is the most volcanically active body known to science. Sulfur, which is ejected as a result of such activity, gives the satellite a yellow-orange color. Jupiter's gravity causes tides on solid Io, creating heat for volcanic activity.

Europe is completely covered in ice. If the ice melts, there will be twice as much water on Europa as on Earth. In addition, the existence of ice on Callisto and Ganymede is assumed.

Callisto has the lowest reflective effect. This means, most likely, that the entire surface of this satellite consists of a colorless dark stone.

The largest planet, the “earths” of which were able to surprise scientists in 1979, also has rings. Three rings were discovered by Voyager 1 passing around the gas giant's equator.

The main ring has a flat structure. Its thickness is about 30 kilometers and its width is 6400 km.

The inner cloud, called the halo, is about 20,000 kilometers thick. It runs from the main ring to the final one, expanding under the influence of the planet's magnetic field. Both rings are composed of dark small particles.

The third ring resembles a gossamer, as it is almost transparent. In fact, it consists of the smallest pieces of the giant's three satellites: Thebes, Amalthea and Adrastea. It is likely that the ring is composed of dust particles the size of particles in cigarette smoke. This ring has the most impressive dimensions - 129 thousand kilometers wide and more than 30 thousand kilometers thick.

The size of the planet and position in the solar system

Jupiter has simply incredible dimensions! It is 318 times more massive than the Earth. Its diameter is 12 times the length of the equator of our home planet. Despite the weight, this planet is in fifth place in terms of density (it is 1326 g / cubic centimeter). This is easy to explain: gas is much less dense than rock. The structure of the gas giant is similar to the structure of our Star. However, in order to start the fusion of hydrogen that feeds the star, it is necessary to be 75 times larger than it is now.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. It is 778 million kilometers away from the star. Of course, Jupiter is our largest planet. In the Universe, such scales are not uncommon, but in the nearest star systems there is no planet so massive.

Study and forecasts

The largest planet in the solar system has been studied for a very long time, but detailed studies were organized only by NASA. Of particular importance was the probe dropped into the atmosphere of Jupiter by the Galileo spacecraft. In addition, the Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft were sent for research. The last to relay information about Jupiter was the New Horizons probe, which was sent to Pluto.

At present, Jupiter has no artificial satellites, but the next explorer of the gas giant is scheduled to be launched in 2016.

Jupiter can be seen from Earth with an 80mm telescope. At this magnification, spots, protrusions and depressions will be visible. With an aperture of 150 mm or more, the Great Red Spot and fine details of the belts will be visible.

During opposition, as seen from Earth, the largest planet in the solar system reaches an apparent magnitude of -2.94. Thus, Jupiter is the third brightest object in the sky. The rest of the time, the apparent value becomes -1.6.

Since the observation of Jupiter has become available to every inhabitant of the Earth, the largest planet, photos of which have circled the Internet and are the subject of collections of starry sky observers, has become more and more interesting for humanity.

Unfortunately, no one can predict the future. And although it has long been known which planet is the largest, no one understands what awaits it in the future. There is an assumption that in the future Jupiter will become a star, and its moons will form peculiar planets, which will make it possible to move to live in this system when the life of the Sun comes to an end.

Interesting facts about Jupiter that everyone should know

• If we imagine that the Sun does not exceed the size of a door, then the Earth will be equal to a coin, and Jupiter will become like a basketball.
• Jupiter is the fifth solar planet.
• Jupiter's day lasts only 9 hours and 55 minutes. The planet goes around the Sun in almost 12 Earth years.
• Jupiter is a gas giant. However, it is generally accepted that deep under the gases there is a solid core, approximately equal to the size of the Earth.
• The giant's atmosphere is made up of helium and hydrogen.
• Jupiter has poorly developed rings, discovered in 1979.
• Research on Jupiter and its satellites has been going on for a long time. The next mission - "Juno" will start in 2016.
• There can be no life forms familiar to us on Jupiter. However, the presence of oceans on the satellites suggests that there may be some kind of life there.
• The Great Red Spot is a huge storm larger than the Earth's diameter. The hurricane has been raging for over 300 years.

The term "Universe" refers to a space that has no boundaries and is filled with galaxies, pulsars, quasars, black holes and matter. Galaxies, in turn, are made up of clusters of stars and star systems.

For example, the Milky Way includes 200 billion stars, among which the Sun is far from the largest and brightest. And our solar system, which includes the Earth and other planets, is certainly not the only one in the Universe. The largest and smallest planets of the solar system and the universe as a whole will be discussed below.

The largest planet in the solar system

Jupiter is the 5th largest planet in the solar system. The radius of the planet is 69,911 km.

• Jupiter is a "shield" for the Earth, blocking the path of comets and other celestial bodies due to its gravity.
• Jupiter's core temperature is 20,000 °C.
• There are no solid places on the surface of Jupiter; instead, a boiling hydrogen ocean rages.
• The mass of Jupiter is 2.5 times the total mass of the other planets in the solar system and is 1.8986 * 10²⁷ kg.

• Jupiter has the largest number of satellites in the solar system - 63 objects. And on Europa (a moon of Jupiter) there is supposedly water under the ice deposits.
• The Great Red Spot is an atmospheric vortex on Jupiter that has not subsided for 300 years. Its dimensions are gradually decreasing, but even 100 years ago, the volumes of the vortex were compared with the volume of the Earth.
• A day on Jupiter is only 10 Earth hours, and a year is 12 Earth years.

The smallest planet in the solar system

Not so long ago, this title passed to the planet Mercury from Pluto, which was previously included in the solar system as a planet, but since August 2006 it has not been considered as such.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Its radius is 2,439.7 km.

• Mercury is the only planet that does not have natural satellites.
• A day on Mercury is equivalent to 176 Earth days.
• The first mention of Mercury was recorded 3,000 years ago.

• The temperature range on Mercury is impressive: at night, the figure reaches -167°C, during the day - up to +480°C.
• At the bottom of the deep craters of Mercury, reserves of water ice have been discovered.
• Clouds form at the poles of Mercury.
• The mass of Mercury is 3.3*10²³ kg.

The largest stars in the universe

Betelgeuse. One of the brightest stars in the sky and one of the largest in the universe (red hypergiant). Another common name for the object is Alpha Orionis. As its second name suggests, Betelgeuse is located in the constellation of Orion. The size of the star is 1180 solar radii (the radius of the Sun is 690,000 km).

Scientists believe that over the next millennium, Betelgeuse will be reborn into a supernova, as it is rapidly aging, although it was formed not so long ago - several million years ago. Given that the distance from the Earth to it is only 640 light years, our descendants will observe one of the greatest spectacles in the universe.

RW Cephei. A star in the constellation Cepheus, also recognized as a red hypergiant. True, scientists are still arguing about its size. Some argue that the RW radius of Cepheus is equal to 1260 radii of the Sun, others believe that it is worth equating to 1650 radii. The stellar object is 11,500 light years away from Earth.

KW Sagittarius. A red supergiant located in the constellation Sagittarius. The distance to the Sun is 10,000 light years. As for the size, the radius of the supergiant is equal to 1460 solar radii.

KY Swan. A star belonging to the constellation Cygnus and distant from Earth at a distance of 5,000 light years. Since today scientists have not yet received a clear image of the object, disputes about its size are still ongoing. Most consider the radius of KY Cygnus to be 1420 solar radii. Alternative version - 2850 radii.

V354 Cephei. A red supergiant and variable star in the Milky Way galaxy. The radius of V354 Cephei is 1520 times greater than the sun. The stellar object is located relatively close to Earth - only 9,000 light years away.

WOH G64. A red hypergiant located in the constellation Dorado, which, in turn, belongs to the dwarf galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud. The star WOH G64 is 1540 times larger than the Sun and 40 times heavier.

V838 Unicorn. A red variable star belonging to the constellation Monoceros. The distance from the star to the Earth is equal to 20,000 light years, so the calculations made on the size of V838 Unicorn are only approximate. Today it is generally accepted that the size of the object exceeds the size of the Sun by 1170-1970 times.

Mu Cephei. Also known as Herschel's pomegranate star. It is a red supergiant located in the constellation Cepheus (the Milky Way galaxy). In addition to its size (Mu Cephei is 1650 times larger than the Sun), the star is notable for its brightness. It is more than 38,000 times brighter than the Sun, making it one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way.

VV Cephei A. A red hypergiant belonging to the constellation Cepheus and distant from Earth at 2,400 light years. The size of VV Cepheus A is 1800 times the size of the Sun. As for the mass, it exceeds the solar mass by 100 times. Component A has been scientifically proven to be a physically variable star that pulsates every 150 days

VY Canis Major. The largest star in the Universe is located in the constellation Canis Major and is a red hypergiant. The distance from a star to Earth is equivalent to 5,000 light years. The VY radius of Canis Major was determined in 2005, it is 2,000 solar radii. And the mass exceeds the solar 40 times.

magnet planets

Visually, the magnetic field cannot be observed, but its presence or absence is recorded with a high degree of accuracy by modern instruments. The earth is a huge magnet. Thanks to this, our planet is protected from cosmic radiation generated by the solar wind - highly charged particles "shot" by the Sun.

The protective magnetosphere of the Earth deflects the approaching flows of these particles and directs them around the axis. In the absence of a magnetic field, cosmic radiation will destroy the atmosphere on Earth. Scientists suggest that this is exactly what happened on Mars.

There is no magnetic field on Mars, but magnetic poles have been found on it, reminiscent of the magnetosphere at the bottom of the Earth's oceans. The magnetic poles of Mars are so strong that they extend hundreds of kilometers into the atmosphere. In addition, they interact with cosmic radiation and even create the auroras recorded by scientists.

However, the absence of a magnetosphere is a consequence of the absence of liquid water on Mars. And in order for a person to be able to move safely on the surface of the planet, it is required to develop individual protection, a personal "magnetic field" for everyone.

3. Magnetic field of Mercury. Mercury, like the Earth, is protected by the magnetosphere. This discovery was made in 1974. The planet also has north and south magnetic poles. The South Pole is exposed to much more radiation than the North Pole.

Discovered on Mercury and a new phenomenon - magnetic tornadoes. They are twisted beams originating in a magnetic field and passing into interplanetary space. Mercury's magnetic tornadoes are capable of covering an area 800 km wide and up to a third of the radius of the planet.

4. Magnetosphere of Venus. Venus, which is often compared to the Earth and even considered its twin, also has a magnetic field, however, extremely weak, 10,000 times weaker than the earth's. Scientists have not yet established the reasons for this.

5. Magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter's magnetosphere is 20,000 times stronger than Earth's and is considered the largest in the solar system. The electrically charged particles surrounding the planet periodically interact with other planets and objects, damaging their protective shells.

The magnetic field of Saturn is remarkable only in that its axis coincides 100% with the axis of rotation, which is not observed in other planets.

6. Magnetic field of Uranus and Neptune. The magnetospheres of Uranus and Neptune differ from the rest of the planets in that they have 2 north and 2 south poles. However, the nature of the origin and interaction of fields with interplanetary space is not completely clear.

The largest planet in the universe

TrES-4 is recognized as the No. 1 planet in the Universe in terms of its size. It was only discovered in 2006. TrES-4 is a planet in the constellation Hercules, the distance from it to Earth is 1,400 light years.

The giant planet is 1.7 times larger than Jupiter (the radius of Jupiter is 69,911 km), and the temperature on it reaches 1260 ° C. Scientists are convinced that there is no solid surface on the planet TrES-4, and the main component of the planet is hydrogen.

The smallest planet in the universe

In 2013, scientists discovered the world's smallest planet, Kepler-37b. This planet is one of three planets orbiting the star Kepler-37.

It has not yet been possible to establish its exact dimensions, however, in terms of dimensions, Kepler-37b is comparable to the Moon, whose radius is 1737.1 km. Presumably, the planet Kepler-37b is composed of rock.

Giant satellites and the smallest satellites in space

The largest moon in the universe today is Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter. Its diameter is 5270 km. Ganymede mostly consists of ice and silicates, the core of the satellite is liquid, scientists even suggest the presence of water in it. Ganymede also forms its own magnetosphere and the thinnest atmosphere in which oxygen is found.

S/2010 J 2 is considered the smallest satellite in the Universe. It is noteworthy that this is again a satellite of Jupiter. The diameter of S/2010 J 2 is 2 km. Its discovery took place in 2010, and today the detailed characteristics of the satellite are only being studied with the help of modern instruments.

The universe is equally known and unknown to mankind, since this space is extremely variable. And although today the knowledge of people is hundreds of times greater than the knowledge of our predecessors, scientists say that all the greatest discoveries of the Universe are yet to come.