"The glorious lamp of heaven, the radiant sun, Is Nature's eye."
- John Dryden, translated from Ovid's Metamorphoses
Loading images...
Sun Stats
Diameter: 864,000 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 35.19 inches
Mass: 2 x 10^30 kg
Fun Facts: Mr. Sun
The Sun is a gaseous sphere that rotates faster on the equator than at the poles. This is called differential rotation.
Solar flares, coronal mass ejections, high-speed solar wind, and solar energetic particles are examples of space weather caused by the Sun that can have an impact on the Earth.
Nuclear fusion is the process that produces light and energy behind every star in the universe. Main sequence stars, like the Sun, fuse hydrogen in their cores.
Sunspots
Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun.
They are often precursors to solar flares so monitoring them is important. Source 1 |
Source 2
MERCURY
"I had rather be Mercury, the smallest among eight [planets], revolving round the sun, than the first among several [moons] revolving round Saturn."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Loading images...
Mercury Stats
Distance from Sun: 0.39 AU / 36 million miles / 36,000,000 miles
Solar Walk Distance: 122 feet
Diameter: 3,032 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 0.12 inches
Mass: 3.30 x 10^23 kg
1 Mercury Year = 88 Earth Days
1 Mercury Day = 1,408 Earth Hours
Fun Facts: Mercury
Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun.
Mercury is only the second hottest planet in the Solar System.
Mercury has a molten core.
How fast are you traveling through the Solar System?
How many seconds did it take for you to walk from the Sun to Mercury?
seconds
Your Solar Walk speed:
Your Solar System speed:
VENUS
"The universe is hilarious! Like, Venus is 900 degrees. I could tell you it melts lead. But that's not as fun as saying, 'You can cook a pizza on the windowsill in nine seconds.' And next time my fans eat pizza, they're thinking of Venus!"
- Neil deGrasse Tyson, GQ (6 March 2014)
Loading images...
Venus Stats
Distance from Sun: 0.72 AU / 67.2 million miles / 67,200,000 miles
Solar Walk Distance: 228 feet
Diameter: 7,521 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 0.31 inches
Mass: 4.87 x 10^24 kg
1 Venusian Year = 224.7 Earth Days
1 Venusian Day = 5,832 Earth Hours
Fun Facts: Venus
Venus spins in the opposite direction of Earth and most other planets in the Solar System.
Venus does not experience seasons because of its limited axial tilt of 3 degrees.
A thick atmosphere of yellow sulfuric acid clouds traps heat, causing a runaway greenhouse effect that makes Venus the hottest planet in our Solar System.
How fast are you traveling through the Solar System?
How many seconds did it take for you to walk from the Sun to Venus?
seconds
Your Solar Walk speed:
Your Solar System speed:
EARTH
"To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold--brothers who know now they are truly brothers."
- Archibald MacLeish
Loading images...
Earth Stats
Distance from Sun: 1.00 AU / 93 million miles / 93,000,000 miles
Solar Walk Distance: 316 feet
Diameter: 7,926 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 0.32 inches
Mass: 5.97 x 10^24 kg
Fun Facts: Earth
70% of the Earth's surface is covered in water.
Earth does not take an exact 24 hours to rotate once on its axis. It actually takes 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds.
The Earth's atmosphere extends to a distance of 10,000 kilometers above its surface.
How fast are you traveling through the Solar System?
How many seconds did it take for you to walk from the Sun to Earth?
seconds
Your Solar Walk speed:
Your Solar System speed:
MARS
"Mars tugs at the human imagination like no other planet. With a force mightier than gravity, it attracts the eye to the shimmering red presence in the clear night sky."
- John Noble Wilford, Mars Beckons
Loading images...
Mars Stats
Distance from Sun: 1.52 AU / 141.6 million miles / 141,600,000 miles
Solar Walk Distance: 480 feet
Diameter: 4,221 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 0.17 inches
Mass: 6.42 x 10^23 kg
1 Martian Year = 1.88 Earth Years
1 Martian Day = 25 Earth Hours
Fun Facts: Mars
Mars has 2 moons named after the horses that pulled Ares' chariot in Greek mythology.
Mars is home to the highest mountain in our solar system, a volcano called Olympus Mons. It is 24 kilometers in height or about three times the height of Mount Everest.
The water present in the polar ice caps on Mars can't melt due to the low atmospheric pressure.
How fast are you traveling through the Solar System?
How many seconds did it take for you to walk from the Sun to Mars?
seconds
Your Solar Walk speed:
Your Solar System speed:
JUPITER
"Without Jupiter cleaning out the early solar system, the Earth would be pock-marked with meteor collisions. We would suffer from asteroid impacts every day."
- Michio Kaku
Loading images...
Jupiter Stats
Distance from Sun: 5.20 AU / 483.7 million miles / 483,700,000 miles
Solar Walk Distance: 1,642 feet
Diameter: 88,846 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 3.62 inches
Mass: 1.90 x 10^27 kg
1 Jupiter Year = 11.86 Earth Years
1 Jupiter Day = 10 Earth Hours
Fun Facts: Jupiter
Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a planetary-sized storm that has been raging on for centuries, fueled by Jupiter's turbulent and fast-moving atmosphere.
Jupiter has the shortest day of all the planets, despite its hefty size.
Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field of any planet in the Solar System.
How fast are you traveling through the Solar System?
How many seconds did it take for you to walk from the Sun to Jupiter?
minutes
Your Solar Walk speed:
Your Solar System speed:
SATURN
"The planet [Saturn], encircled by its magnificent rings, is arguably the most sublime object in the solar system."
- Bonnie Buratti, Encyclopedia Britannica (December 2014)
"The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage."
- Mark Russell
Loading images...
Saturn Stats
Distance from Sun: 9.57 AU / 889.8 million miles / 889,800,000 miles
Solar Walk Distance: 3,020 feet
Diameter: 78,897 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 3.21 inches
Mass: 5.68 x 10^26 kg
1 Saturn Year = 29.43 Earth Years
1 Saturn Day = 11 Earth Hours
Fun Facts: Saturn
Saturn is the most distant planet that can be seen with the naked eye.
Saturn is the flattest planet in the Solar System.
Saturn has more moons that any other planet in the Solar System. 82 have been discovered so far.
How fast are you traveling through the Solar System?
How many seconds did it take for you to walk from the Sun to Saturn?
minutes
Your Solar Walk speed:
Your Solar System speed:
URANUS
"Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken."
- John Keats in On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer, City University of New York, 2009 (On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer" is a reference to Herschel's discovery of Uranus)
Loading images...
Uranus Stats
Distance from Sun: 19.16 AU / 1.78 billion miles / 1,780,000,000 miles
Solar Walk Distance: 6,042 feet
Diameter: 31,763 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 1.29 inches
Mass: 8.68 x 10^25 kg
1 Uranus Year = 83.76 Earth Years
1 Uranus Day = 17 Earth Hours
Fun Facts: Uranus
Uranus has the most extreme seasons of any planet in the Solar System.
Uranus is classified as an 'ice giant.' It gets as cold as -371.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
Uranus' axis of rotation is -97.77, which means the planet rotates on its side relative to its orbital plane and the axis of rotation of most other planets in the Solar System.
How fast are you traveling through the Solar System?
How many seconds did it take for you to walk from the Sun to Uranus?
minutes
Your Solar Walk speed:
Your Solar System speed:
NEPTUNE
"Le Verrier—without leaving his study, without even looking at the sky—had found the unknown planet [Neptune] solely by mathematical calculation, and, as it were, touched it with the tip of his pen!"
- Camille Flammarion
Loading images...
Neptune Stats
Distance from Sun: 30.18 AU / 2.8 billion miles / 2,800,000,000 miles
Solar Walk Distance: 9,504 feet
Diameter: 30,775 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 1.25 inches
Mass: 1.02 x 10^26 kg
1 Neptune Year = 163.75 Earth Years
1 Neptune Day = 16 Earth Hours
Fun Facts: Neptune
Neptune is the most distant planet from the Sun.
1 year on Neptune lasts 165 Earth years.
Neptune has 6 faint rings.
How fast are you traveling through the Solar System?
How many seconds did it take for you to walk from the Sun to Neptune?
minutes
Your Solar Walk speed:
Your Solar System speed:
PLUTO
"Pluto's dead."
- Mike Brown, to reporters after Pluto was demoted from planetary status (Space.com)
Loading images...
Pluto Stats
Distance from Sun: 39.48 AU / 3.67 billion miles / 3,670,000,000 miles
Solar Walk Distance: 12,457 feet
Diameter: 1,476 miles
Solar Walk Diameter: 0.06 inches
Mass: 1.30 x 10^22 kg
1 Pluto Year = 248 Earth Years
1 Pluto Day = 154 Earth Hours
Fun Facts: Pluto
Pluto is named after the Roman god of the underworld.
Pluto is one-third water. Its surface is also covered with ice and has several mountain ranges.
Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. Clyde Tombaugh lived in Burdett, KS and attended the University of Kansas.
How fast are you traveling through the Solar System?
How many seconds did it take for you to walk from the Sun to Pluto?
minutes
Your Solar Walk speed:
Your Solar System speed:
MORE ASTRONOMY INFORMATION
"The universe’s imagination always remains wider than our human imaginations."
- Julie J. Morley
Loading images...
Universe Stats
Age: 13.8 billion yearsDiameter: 8.8 x 10^26 metersOrdinary Matter: 5%Dark Matter: 27%Dark Energy: 68%Speed Limit: c = 186,000 miles per second
Fun Facts: Universe
There are more stars in the universe than grains of sands on all the beaches on Earth.
The universe is explanding. This expansion is currently accelerating, meaning it will expand even faster in the future than it is today.
There is a nearly uniform microwave background radiation which can be used to study the early formation of the Universe.
