Our Solar System
Eight planets, five recognized dwarf planets, two major debris belts, and one extraordinary star — explore them all.
The Planets
From scorching Mercury to icy Neptune — and our favorite dwarf planet.
Mercury
Smallest planetVenus
Hottest planetEarth
Our homeMars
The Red PlanetJupiter
Largest planetSaturn
The RingsUranus
Tilted axisNeptune
Windiest planetPluto
Dwarf planetSize Comparison
How the planets stack up by diameter.
Planet Comparison
Side-by-side metrics for every planet in the Solar System.
| Planet | Diameter (km) | Distance (AU) | Moons | Temperature | Year Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mercury | 4,879 | 0.39 | 0 | -180 to 430 C | 88 days |
Venus | 12,104 | 0.72 | 0 | 462 C (average) | 225 days |
Earth | 12,742 | 1 | 1 | -89 to 57 C | 365.25 days |
Mars | 6,779 | 1.52 | 2 | -140 to 20 C | 687 days |
Jupiter | 139,820 | 5.2 | 95 | -145 C (cloud top) | 11.86 years |
Saturn | 116,460 | 9.54 | 146 | -178 C (cloud top) | 29.46 years |
Uranus | 50,724 | 19.2 | 28 | -224 C | 84 years |
Neptune | 49,528 | 30.06 | 16 | -218 C | 164.8 years |
Pluto(dwarf) | 2,377 | 39.48 | 5 | -233 to -223 C | 248 years |
Dwarf Planets
Small worlds with big stories — the five IAU-recognized dwarf planets.
Pluto
Has a heart-shaped nitrogen glacier and a thin, seasonally variable atmosphere.
Eris
Its discovery in 2005 prompted the IAU to redefine "planet", reclassifying Pluto.
Ceres
The largest object in the Asteroid Belt and the closest dwarf planet to the Sun.
Makemake
Named after the Rapa Nui god of fertility; one of the brightest Kuiper Belt objects.
Haumea
Shaped like an elongated egg due to its ultra-fast 4-hour rotation and has its own ring system.
Asteroid Belt & Kuiper Belt
Two vast regions of rocky and icy debris that shaped our Solar System.
Asteroid Belt
Located between Mars and Jupiter (2.2 - 3.2 AU from the Sun), the Asteroid Belt contains millions of rocky bodies left over from the Solar System's formation 4.6 billion years ago.
Despite what movies suggest, the belt is mostly empty space. The total mass of all asteroids combined is only about 4% of Earth's Moon. The largest object, Ceres, accounts for roughly a third of the belt's total mass.
Kuiper Belt
Extending from Neptune's orbit (~30 AU) out to roughly 50 AU, the Kuiper Belt is a vast ring of icy bodies, including dwarf planets Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea.
It is estimated to contain hundreds of thousands of objects larger than 100 km and trillions of smaller icy bodies. The belt is also the source of many short-period comets.