When we look up at the sky, we see the Sun and sometimes, if we know where to look, we might spot Jupiter. But have you ever stopped to consider just how different these celestial bodies are in size? The reality is, the comparison is mind-blowing.
The Sun is a star, a massive ball of hot gas that dominates our solar system. Jupiter, on the other hand, is a planet, the largest one in our solar system, but still significantly smaller than our star. To truly grasp the scale, let’s delve into a direct size comparison.
In terms of diameter, if you were to line up Jupiters across the face of the Sun, you could fit roughly 10 Jupiters across. The Sun’s diameter is about 865,000 miles (1.39 million kilometers), while Jupiter’s is approximately 86,881 miles (139,822 kilometers). That means the Sun is about ten times wider than Jupiter.
But diameter is just one dimension. When we think about volume, the difference is even more staggering. You could fit about 1,300 Earths inside Jupiter. Now, imagine how many Jupiters could fit inside the Sun. The answer is approximately 1,000 Jupiters could fit inside the volume of the Sun!
Think of it like this: if the Sun were a basketball, Jupiter would be about the size of a golf ball. This enormous size difference highlights the Sun’s stellar nature versus Jupiter’s planetary status. The Sun is so massive that it accounts for about 99.8% of the total mass of our entire solar system.
Interestingly, when we consider objects that are almost stars, like brown dwarfs, we find they are closer in size to Jupiter. Brown dwarfs, sometimes called “failed stars,” have diameters roughly the same as Jupiter. However, don’t let size fool you. Brown dwarfs can be significantly more massive than Jupiter, sometimes up to 80 times more massive. This extra mass is the key difference between a planet like Jupiter and a brown dwarf, even if they appear similar in size. The mass of a brown dwarf is still not enough to sustain the nuclear fusion reactions that power stars like our Sun, which is why they are “failed stars”.
So, while Jupiter is undeniably gigantic as planets go, when compared to the Sun, it’s dwarfed in both size and mass. This comparison underscores the Sun’s immense scale and importance in our solar system, truly putting into perspective just how big our star really is.
