Also, while it may appear that the bottom-left quadrant shows Jupiter's diameter as slightly smaller than 10.9733 Earth diameters, that is only because a sliver of a crescent of Jupiter is hidden in shadow - the lighting on this image is not 100% "full". The size ratios depicted here are based upon their average diameters. The reason why the bodies are diagrammed at an angle is because their equatorial diameters are larger than their polar diameters, especially for the gas giant, Jupiter. This can be extended to the size relationship of the Sun to Jupiter, that if there were a Giant Sunspot 1/10th of the Sun's diameter, then that Sunspot would have the same diameter as Jupiter. In reference to Jupiter itself, its Red Spot has a diameter that is one order of magnitude smaller than its own diameter. The string of eleven Earth diameters across Jupiter is purposely faded near the Great Red Spot in order to show how the Spot and the Earth have similar diameters. The fourth image actually shows an unusual situation in the Solar System in that Earth's Moon is closer to its planet's size than other moons are to their planet's size (the Earth-Moon system could actually be considered a double planet). The image is titled "Solar System Orders of Magnitude" because of how, generally speaking, the diameter decreases by an order of magnitude when going from the central star, to the gas giants, to the terrestrial planets, down to the moon objects. This is an 11/3 diameter ratio exactly (0.09% error). Finally on the bottom-right, the Earth is shown to be three and two-thirds (3.6676×) the diameter of the Moon. On the bottom-left, Jupiter is shown to be eleven times (10.9733×) the diameter of the Earth. On the top-right, Jupiter is shown to have a diameter ten times smaller (0.10045×) than the diameter of the Sun. On the top-left, all four are shown together with sizes to scale. English: This image has four quadrants showing relative sizes of four key Solar System objects: the Sun, Jupiter, Earth and the Moon.
0 kommentar(er)
