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Hard Science

Watch how this video brilliantly compares planet sizes

What if all planets were the same distance from Earth as the Moon?

Yeti Dynamics

Key Takeaways
  • A video imagines what it would look like if the planets were all the same distance from Earth as the Moon.
  • The largest planets like Jupiter and Saturn would loom large in the sky.
  • Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system.
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A graphic published on Twitter brings the relative sizes of planets into perspective by imagining: What if the planets were as far from us as the Moon?

Here’s how that would look from a video originally created by Yeti Dynamics:

If the Moon were replaced with some of our planets

www.youtube.com

If the Moon were replaced with some of our planets

The fascinating post brings up the question: How big are the planets? If you were wondering, here’s how that rundown goes (in terms of planet diameters):

  • Jupiter : 142,984 km (88,846 mi)
  • Saturn: 120,536 km (74897.6 mi)
  • Uranus: 50,724 km (31,518.43 mi)
  • Neptune: 49,244 km (30598.8 mi)
  • Earth: 12,756 km (7926 mi)
  • Venus: 12,104 km (7521 mi)
  • Mars: 6779 km (4212.275 mi)
  • Mercury: 4,879 km (3031.67 mi)
  • Pluto – not currently considered a planet: 1,476.8 mi

Credit: NASA

Here’s another way a NASA artist compared the relative planet sizes:
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