Planet and Moon Sizes
The solar system is so vast that it's difficult to visualize how big
some of the planets are. For example,
Jupiter is so much bigger than Earth
that Earth would fit inside its Great Red Spot.
Earth's moon is unusual because it's
a respectable fraction of the size of its
primary; it's gigantic compared to Mars's moons,
Phobos and
Deimos,
which look like specks next to it,
and it's about as big as Io,
one of the largest moons of Jupiter.
These pages are intended to convey something about the size of the other
planets and their moons by comparing them to each other, and to Earth and its
moon. If your browser is able to scale inline images, then the two images on
each page will appear at the correct relative sizes on your screen.
To see any size comparisons, not just the ones pregenerated here,
try the appropriate page of my
Never Ending Quiz.
Bob Kanefsky
Kanef@Ptolemy.ARC.NASA.gov
Responsible NASA official: Sonie Lau