{"id":27963,"date":"2023-05-31T11:14:40","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T09:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=144380"},"modified":"2023-05-31T11:37:10","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T09:37:10","slug":"whats-the-largest-planet-in-the-universe","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/whats-the-largest-planet-in-the-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the largest planet in the Universe?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Find out the biggest planet in our Solar System and beyond. <\/p>

By Toby Saunders\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 31 May 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Sure, Earth is where all the best people live (including you, obviously). But there are bigger planets than our home in the Solar System and across the Universe.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just the ones we know about. As only a fraction Universe has been detailed \u2013 even with the more recent introduction of the James Webb Space Telescope<\/a> \u2013 there are many more planets out there to discover.<\/p>\n

Regardless, scientists have identified what\u2019s believed to be the largest planet in the known<\/em> Universe. Spoiler: it\u2019s much bigger than anything orbiting the Sun<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read on to find out what the biggest planet in the Solar System is \u2013 and to see what\u2019s thought to be the largest planet in the universe that has been discovered.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the biggest planet in the Solar System?<\/b><\/h2>\n
\""Illustration\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Illustration of Jupiter \u00a9 Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The biggest planet in the Solar System is Jupiter. It\u2019s a bit of a brute. The gas giant weighs over double that of every other planet in the Solar System combined<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Thanks to its gargantuan size and large gravitational pull ensure that it holds 80 confirmed moons in orbit.<\/p>\n

To put it in increased perspective, the fifth planet from the Sun has a radius of 69,911km, making it approximately 11 times wider than the Earth\u2019s 6,371km. If Earth were the size of a 20p coin, Jupiter would be about as big as a football.<\/p>\n

In terms of surface area, Jupiter measures 61,418,738,571km\u00b2, compared to Earth\u2019s 510,064,472km\u00b2.<\/p>\n

The Sun, however, is much<\/em> larger still. While Jupiter\u2019s diameter is around 11 times larger than the Earth\u2019s, it is around ten times smaller<\/em> than the Sun\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Yet while Jupiter is for sure the largest known planet in the Solar System, there are bigger ones out there.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the biggest planet in the universe?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The biggest planet in the known universe is likely a giant exoplanet named ROXs 42 Bb. This gas giant, nearly 500 light-years from Earth, was discovered in 2013.<\/p>\n

According to NASA<\/a>, ROXs 42 Bb has a radius that\u2019s estimated to be 1.12 times that of Jupiter\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\""ROXs\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
An image of the ROXs 42 Bb (the large centre blue circle) taken by the Keck Telescope in Hawaii \u00a9 Thayne Currie<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

As new details on the surrounding galaxies and universe emerge, it\u2019s likely scientists will discover new planets even bigger than ROXs 42 Bb. The line does blur, however, over what classifies as a planet and what is, in fact, a brown dwarf \u2013 objects that are somewhere between a planet and a star.<\/p>\n

You can think of brown dwarfs as failed stars \u2013 they essentially didn\u2019t gain enough mass to kickstart nuclear fusion in their cores. Instead, planets form from the accumulation of leftover debris from these stellar births.<\/p>\n

Brown dwarfs are also too big<\/em> to count as planets, which are technically classified as about 13 times the mass of Jupiter. ROXs 42 Bb has the estimated mass of nine Jupiters so it can still be defined as a planet.<\/p>\n

Read more: <\/strong><\/p>\n