Table of Figures Related to the Solar System Planets

For convenience of use, this table of data related to the nine planets of the solar system has been parted into three parts

note: when data entail that they may be given into the anglo-saxon measure units, or into the metric units, figures are given first into the anglo-saxon units (mi, miles per second, ° F, etc), as the metric units are given further in brackets only (km, km/s, ° C, etc)

all data National Space Science Data Center

to tables values specifications

Figures Related to the Solar System Planets (Part 1)

	Distance from Sun (in miles; in km)	Orbital Period (in days or years)	Rotation (in hours or days)	Rotation speed (in miles per second; in km/s)	Orbital inclination (in ° compared to the ecliptic)	Orbital Eccentricity	Orbital Speed (in miles per second; in km/s)
Mercury	36,000,000 (57,900,000)	88 d	175,9 d	0.0002 (0.0003)	7.0	0.205	29.7 (47.9)
Venus	67,200,000 (108,200,000)	224.7 d	116,7 d retrograde (1)	0.0007 (0.001)	3.4	0.007	21.8 (35)
Earth	93,000,000 (149,600,000)	1 year	24h	0.09 (0.14)	0.0	0.017	18.5 (29.8)
Mars	141,600,000 (227,900,000)	687,0 d	24.7h	0.04 (0.07)	1.9	0.094	15 (24.1)
Jupiter	483,800,000 (778,600,000)	11,8 years	9.9h	2.5 (4)	1.3	0.049	8.1 (13)
Saturn	890,800,000 (1,433,500,000)	29,4 years	10.6h	1.9 (3.1)	2.5	0.057	6 (9.7)
Uranus	1,784,800,000 (2,872,500,000)	83,8 years	17.2h retrograde (1)	0.5 (0.8)	0.8	0.046	4.2 (6.8)
Neptune	2,793,100,000 (4,495,100,000)	163,8 years	16.1h	0.5 (0.8)	1.8	0.011	3.4 (5.4)
Pluto	3,647,200,000 (5,870,000,000)	248,1 years	6.3 d retrograde (1)	0.002 (0.004)	17.2	0.244	2.9s (4.7)

(1) back Venus, Uranus and Pluto have their axis tilted to the point that the actual north poles are lying under the orbit's plane (Uranus, Pluto) or even are reversed (Venus). IAU however recommanding that any pole lying above the ecliptic be designated north, actual south pole of these planets i.e. their pole being higher than their north one, is considered north and thus these planets -rotation of which is otherwise the one of other planets, i.e.counterclockwise- are considered having a retrograde rotation

Figures Related to the Solar System Planets (Part 2)

	Mass (in tons21; in kg24)	Diameter (in miles; in km)	Density (in lbs/ft3; in kg/m3)	Axial Tilt (in °)	Number of Moons	Ring Systems	Magnetic Field	Albedo
Mercury	0.364 (0.330)	3032 (4879)	339 (5,427)	0.01	0	no	yes	0.10
Venus	5.37 (4.87)	7521 (12,104)	327 (5,243)	177.4	0	no	no	0.65
Earth	6.58 (5.97)	7926 (12,756)	344 (5,515)	23.5	1	no	yes	0.37
Mars	0.708 (0.642)	4222 (6,794)	246 (3,933)	25.2	2	no	no	0.15
Jupiter	2093 (1,899)	88,846 (142,984)	83 (1,326)	3.1	63	yes	yes	0.52
Saturn	627 (568)	74,897 (120,536)	43 (0,687)	26.7	56	yes	yes	0.47
Uranus	95.7 (86.8)	31,763 (51,118)	79 (1,270)	97.8	27	yes	yes	0.51
Neptune	113 (102)	30,775 (49,528)	102 (1,638)	28.3	13	yes	yes	0.41
Pluto	0.0138 (0.0125)	1485 (2,390)	110 (1,750)	122.5	3	no	-na-	0.3

Figures Related to the Solar System Planets (Part 3)

	Mean Temperature (in °F; in °C)	Gravity (in ft/s2; in m/s2)	Perihelion (in miles; in km)	Aphelion (in miles; in km)	Hill's Sphere Radius (in planet's radii)
Mercury	333 (167)	12.1 (3.7)	28,600,000 (46,000,000)	43,400,000 (69,800,000)	94.4
Venus	867 (464)	29.1 (8.9)	66,800,000 (107,500,000)	67,700,000 (108,900,000)	167.1
Earth	59 (15)	32.1 (9.8)	91,400,000 (147,100,000)	94,500,000 (152,100,000)	234.9
Mars	-85 (-65)	12.1 (3.7)	128,400,000 (206,600,000)	154,900,000 (249,200,000)	319.8
Jupiter	-166 (-110)	75.9 (23.1)	460,100,000 (740,500,000)	507,400,000 (816,600,000)	740
Saturn	-220 (-140)	29.4 (9.0)	840,400,000 (1,352,600,000)	941,100,000 (1,514,500,000)	1100
Uranus	-320 (-195)	28.5 (8.7)	1,703,400,000 (2,741,300,000)	1,866,400,000 (3,003,600,000)	2700
Neptune	-330 (-200)	36.0 (11.0)	2,761,600,000 (4,444,500,000)	2,824,500,000 (4,545,700,000)	4700
Pluto	-375 (-225)	1.9 (0.6)	2,755,800,000 (4,435,000,000)	4,538,700,000 (7,304,300,000)	5100

Tables Values Specifications

(in alphabetical order)

Albedo

Percentage of light that a planetary surface reflects out of the total light falling on it. Bright, reflective surfaces, such as snow, have a high albedo; dark, absorptive surfaces have a low albedo

Aphelion

Point of a planet's orbit which is farthest of the Sun (in miles; in km) see at Distance From Sun

Axial tilt

Angle between the poles' axis of the planet and a line perpendicular to the planet's orbit's plane (or -this is the same, the angle between the equatorial plane of the planet and the planet's orbit's plane (in °)

Density

Mean density (mass divided by volume) of the planet (atmosphere is not included for terrestrial planets). Pure ice is approximately at 58 lbs/ft³ (in lbs/ft³; in kg/m³)

Diameter

Planet's diameter at the equator (in miles; in km)

Distance from Sun

Mean distance from Sun (semi-major axis). Orbits of planets are not circles but ellipses; hence a point of the orbit is nearest to the Sun (perihelion) and one point is farthest of it (in miles; in km)

Gravity

Equatorial gravitational acceleration at planet's surface (or 1 bar level) (in feet/second²; in meters/second²)

Hill's sphere radius

Hill's sphere is the sphere at which Sun and planet's gravity balance each other. Moons may only exist inside this sphere (beyond, they would be taken from the planet by the Sun gravity; theoretically, retrograde satellites may be hold by the planet's gravity well beyond the Hill's sphere limit). Lagrangian point L1 and L2 are at the limit of the Hill's sphere (radius, in planet's radii). The Roche limit, on the other hand, is a tidal effect distance under which any large moon is shattered. Diminutive moons may form however. The Roche limit is at 2.446 radii from the planet. It's at 15,500 mi (20,000 km) for Earth, 108,000 mi (175,000 km) for Jupiter, 92,000 mi (147,000 km) for Saturn, 39,000 mi (62,000 km) for Uranus, 37,000 mi (59,000 km) for Neptune

Magnetic field

Whether or not the planet has a measurable global magneto-based magnetic field. for more about solar system magnetospheres see the tutorial "Magnetospheres In the Solar System"

Mass

Planet's mass (in tons²¹; in kg²⁴). Mass is not weight. Mass is the amount of matter in an object and the inerty the object exerts against any force which could move it. Weight is mass on which gravity is acting. E.g. an object of similar mass (154 lb.) may have a weight of 154 lb. on Earth by on 26 lb only on Moon where gravity is 1/6th the one of Earth. Mass is used to characterize an object's inertia to acceleration, i.e. its resistance to be moved or have its direction changed

Mean temperature

Mean temperature for the whole of the planet's surface (in °F; in °C)

Number of moons

Number of moons as determined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) (data may be updated at unregular interval due to the possible discovery of new moons)

Orbital inclination

Angle between the orbit's plane of a planet and the Earth's orbit's plane -which is the ecliptic (in ° compared to the ecliptic -which is 0)

Orbital eccentricity

Measurement of the circularity of the orbit. Is computed by the formula: (aphelion - perihelion) / (2 x semi-major axis). A circular orbit would have a value 0

Orbital period

Time for the planet to complete an orbit around the Sun between a vernal equinox and another one. Is the equivalent of the year for the Earth (in days or years)

Orbital speed

Planet's speed along its orbit (in miles per second; in km/s)

Perihelion

Point of a planet's orbit which is nearest of the Sun (in miles; in km) see at Distance From Sun

Ring systems

Whether or not the planet has a ring system

Rotation

Mean time the Sun takes to go from noon position to the next. Is the equivalent of the day for Earth (in hours or days)

Rotation speed

Rotation speed at the equator (in miles per second; in km/s)