0 like 0 dislike
28 views
in Science by (1.0m points)
What is the biggest object in our solar system

1 Answer

0 like 0 dislike
by (1.0m points)
The sun, the biggest object in our solar system, is in the center of it.

This is a partial list of Solar System objects by size, arranged in descending order of mean volumetric radius, and subdivided into several size classes. These lists can also be sorted according to an object's mass and, for the largest objects, volume, density and surface gravity, insofar as these values are available. This list contains the Sun, the planets, dwarf planets, many of the larger small Solar System bodies (which includes the asteroids), all named natural satellites, and a number of smaller objects of historical or scientific interest, such as comets and near-Earth objects.

The ordering may be different depending on whether one chooses radius or mass, because some objects are denser than others. For instance, Uranus is larger than Neptune but less massive, and although Ganymede and Titan are larger than Mercury, they have less than half Mercury's mass. This means some objects in the lower tables, despite their smaller radii, may be more massive than objects in the upper tables because they have a higher density.

Many trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) have been discovered, and their approximate locations in this list are shown, even though there can be a large uncertainty in their measurement.

Solar System objects more massive than 1021 kilograms (one yottagram [Yg]) are known or expected to be approximately spherical. Astronomical bodies relax into rounded shapes (ellipsoids), achieving hydrostatic equilibrium, when the gravity of their mass is sufficient to overcome the structural strength of their material. Objects made of ice become round more easily than those made of rock, and many icy objects are spheroidal at far lower sizes. The cutoff boundary for roundness is somewhere between 100 km and 200 km in radius.[1]

The larger objects in the mass range between 1018 kg to 1021 kg (1 to 1000 zettagrams [Zg]), such as Tethys, Ceres, and Mimas, have relaxed to an oblate-spheroid equilibrium due to their gravity, whereas the less massive rubble piles (e.g. Amalthea and Janus) are roughly rounded, but not spherical, dubbed "irregular".

Spheroidal bodies typically have some polar flattening due to the centrifugal force from their rotation, and can sometimes even have quite different equatorial diameters (scalene ellipsoids such as Haumea). Unlike bodies such as Haumea, the irregular bodies deviate significantly from the shape of an ellipsoid.

There can be difficulty in determining the diameter (within a factor of about 2) for typical objects beyond Saturn. (See 2060 Chiron as an example.) For TNOs there is some confidence in the diameters, but for non-binary TNOs there is no real confidence in the masses/densities. Many TNOs are often just assumed to have Pluto's density of 2.0 g/cm3, but it is just as likely that they have a comet-like density of only 0.5 g/cm3.[2] For example, if a TNO is poorly assumed to have a mass of 3.59×1020 kg based on a radius of 350 km with a density of 2 g/cm3 and is later discovered to only have a radius of 175 km with a density of 1 g/cm3, the mass estimate would be only 2.24×1019 kg.

Related questions

0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 186 views
0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 36 views
asked Jan 9, 2019 in Science by danish (1.0m points)
0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 84 views
asked Dec 20, 2018 in Science by danish (1.0m points)
0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 28 views
0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 39 views
0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 17 views
0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 29 views
asked Jan 9, 2019 in Science by danish (1.0m points)
0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 39 views
asked Jan 3, 2019 in Geography by danish (1.0m points)
0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 31 views
0 like 0 dislike
1 answer 57 views
asked Jan 21, 2019 in Science by danish (1.0m points)
Welcome to Free Homework Help, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community. Anybody can ask a question. Anybody can answer. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Join them; it only takes a minute: School, College, University, Academy Free Homework Help

19.4k questions

18.3k answers

8.7k comments

3.3k users

Free Hit Counters
...