Equatorial Radius of Jupiter

RJ=71,492,000 mR_{\mathrm{J}} = 71,492,000\ \text{m}
Value71,492,000 m
StatusMeasured: ± 4,000 m (0.000056 relative)
SourceNASA planetary fact sheet (equatorial radius at 1 bar)
CategoriesAstronomicalsolar-systemplanets
R_jup in every length unit
femtometer7.1492000e+22 fm
picometer7.1492000e+19 pm
nanometer7.1492000e+16 nm
micrometer71,492,000,000,000 μm
millimeter71,492,000,000 mm
centimeter7,149,200,000 cm
decimeter714,920,000 dm
meter71,492,000 m
kilometer71,492 km
inch2,814,645,700 in
foot234,553,810 ft
yard78,184,602 yd
mile44,423.069 mi
nautical mile38,602.592 nmi
astronomical unit0.0004778945 AU
light-year7.5567104e-09 ly
parsec2.3168979e-09 pc

Learning zone

A gas giant has no surface, so its radius is quoted at a chosen pressure level — conventionally where the atmosphere reaches one bar. Jupiter spins once in 9 h 56 m, the fastest of any planet, and the resulting bulge is visible in any decent telescope: the equatorial radius exceeds the polar by 4638 km, a flattening of 1/15 against Earth's 1/298.

Because the rotation is differential, with the equator circulating faster than mid-latitudes, planetary scientists use System III, tied to the rotation of the magnetic field, as the definitive rotation period. Eleven Earths would fit across the disc, and the Great Red Spot alone has been wider than our planet — though it has been shrinking for a century and a half.