Solar System Cards : Click on the name for information from NASA
Sun
Mass: 1.9890 × 1030 kg
Distance from Sun: N/A
Surface Gravity: 274 m/s²
Rotational Period: 25.38 days
Sidereal Period: N/A
Mercury
Mass: 3.301 × 1023 kg
Distance from Sun: 5.791 × 1010 m
Surface Gravity: 3.76 m/s²
Rotational Period: 58.7 days
Sidereal Period: 87.97 days
Venus
Mass: 4.869 × 1024 kg
Distance from Sun: 1.082 × 1011 m
Surface Gravity: 8.77 m/s²
Rotational Period: 243 days
Sidereal Period: 224.7 days
Earth
Mass: 5.978 x 1024 kg
Distance from Sun: 1.496 x 1011 m
Surface Gravity: 9.81 m/s²
Rotational Period: 23.93 hours
Sidereal Period: 365.3 days
Moon
Mass: 7.3530 x 1022 kg
Distance from Sun: 1.496 x 1011m
Surface Gravity: 1.62 m/s²
Rotational Period: 27.32 days
Sidereal Period: 27.32 days
Mars
Mass: 6.420 x 1023 kg
Distance from Sun: 2.279 x 1011 m
Surface Gravity: 3.8 m/s²
Rotational Period: 24.6 hours
Sidereal Period: 687 days
Jupiter
Mass: 1.899 x 1027 kg
Distance from Sun: 7.783 x 1011 m
Surface Gravity: 24.9 m/s²
Rotational Period: 9.9 hours
Sidereal Period: 11.86 years
Saturn
Mass: 5.685 x 1026 kg
Distance from Sun: 1.427 x 1012 m
Surface Gravity: 10.4 m/s²
Rotational Period: 10.2 hours
Sidereal Period: 29.46 years
Uranus
Mass: 8.686 x 1025 kg
Distance from Sun: 2.869 x 1012 m
Surface Gravity: 10.4 m/s²
Rotational Period: 10.7 hours
Sidereal Period: 84.02 years
Neptune
Mass: 1.025 x 1026 kg
Distance from Sun: 4.498 x 1012 m
Surface Gravity: 13.8 m/s²
Rotational Period: 15.8 hours
Sidereal Period: 164.8 years
Pluto
Mass: 5 x 1023 kg
Distance from Sun:5.900 x 1012 m
Surface Gravity: 4 m/s²
Rotational Period: 6.3 days
Sidereal Period: 248 years
Glossary of Astronomy Terms
The equatorial radius is the distance from a planet’s centre to its equator.
A planet’s mass determines its gravitational strength and ability to hold an atmosphere.
The distance from the Sun affects a planet’s temperature and orbital speed.
Surface gravity describes how strongly a planet pulls objects downward.
The rotational period is the time a planet takes to spin once on its axis — its day length.
The sidereal period is the true orbital period of a planet or moon, measured relative to the fixed stars.
The synodic period is the time it takes for a planet to return to the same position relative to the Sun and Earth — for example, from one opposition or conjunction to the next.
Unlike the sidereal period, which measures a planet’s true orbital time against the fixed stars, the synodic period depends on the motion of both Earth and the planet. This is why inner planets like Mercury and Venus have much shorter synodic cycles.
An orbit is the curved path a planet follows around a larger body due to gravity.
Orbital inclination is the tilt of a planet’s orbit relative to Earth’s orbital plane.
Orbital eccentricity describes how stretched an orbit is — 0 is a perfect circle.
One AU is the average (mean) distance between Earth and the Sun: 149,597,870 700 m.
A light year is the distance light travels in one year — 9,460,730,472,580,800 m
A parsec equals 3.26 light years and is used for large cosmic distances.
It is the distance at which the mean radius of the earth's orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc.
