Jupiter is more than 11 times wider than Earth. It would take about 1,300 Earths to fill the space Jupiter takes up. Jupiter has more than 100 moons; Earth has one. Jupiter has no surface; Earth has continents. Jupiter has storms bigger than our entire planet. This page is a side-by-side tour of how the two compare — from size and gravity to days, years, moons, and more. To learn more about Jupiter, see the main Jupiter pillar.
Jupiter is much bigger (11× wider, 318× more massive), much more distant from the Sun (5× further away), and made of completely different stuff. Earth is a rocky planet with a solid surface, oceans, life, and one Moon. Jupiter is a gas giant with no solid surface, no oceans like Earth’s, no known life, and more than 100 confirmed moons. They are both about the same age (4.5 billion years), and they orbit the same Sun, but in almost every other way they are completely different worlds.
Find a marble (or a small ball about 1–2 cm across). Then find a basketball (or any ball about 25 cm across). Put them next to each other. That is roughly how Earth compares to Jupiter in size. Now imagine you could see Jupiter in the night sky tonight: even though it looks like a small bright dot, it is the size of the basketball, and Earth is the size of the marble. Full how-to-see guide →
📋 Earth vs Jupiter — the big comparison
Here are the most important facts about Earth and Jupiter, side by side:
| Property | 🌍 Earth | 🪐 Jupiter | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type of planet | Rocky (terrestrial) | Gas giant | Totally different |
| Diameter (equator) | 12,756 km | 143,000 km | Jupiter is ~11× wider |
| Mass | ~6 × 10²⁴ kg | ~1,900 × 10²⁴ kg | Jupiter is ~318× heavier |
| Volume | 1 Earth volume | ~1,300 Earth volumes | 1,300 Earths would fit inside Jupiter |
| Mean density | 5,513 kg/m³ | 1,326 kg/m³ | Earth is ~4× denser |
| Gravity where measured | 9.8 m/s² (Earth’s ground) | ~23 m/s² (Jupiter’s cloud tops) | Jupiter is ~2.4× stronger |
| Average distance from Sun | 150 million km (1 AU) | 778 million km (5.2 AU) | Jupiter is ~5× further out |
| Year length (orbit around Sun) | 365 days | About 12 Earth years | Jupiter’s year is ~12× longer |
| Day length (rotation) | 24 hours | 9 hours 56 minutes | Jupiter’s day is much shorter |
| Axial tilt (causes seasons) | 23.5° | 3.1° | Earth has seasons; Jupiter has almost none |
| Number of moons | 1 (the Moon) | More than 100 confirmed | Jupiter wins by a huge margin |
| Atmosphere | Nitrogen + oxygen | Hydrogen + helium (no oxygen) | Earth’s is breathable; Jupiter’s is not |
| Surface | Solid (rock, oceans, ice) | No solid surface | Earth has continents; Jupiter has clouds all the way down |
| Magnetic field | 1× (Earth's magnetic moment) | Strongest planetary field; magnetic moment ~20,000× Earth’s | Jupiter is far stronger |
| Rings? | No | Yes — four faint dusty rings | Jupiter has rings; Earth does not |
| Known life? | Yes — about 2 million species identified | No life found | Earth is the only one we know of |
Size and mass — how much bigger is Jupiter?
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system, and the size difference between Jupiter and Earth is hard to imagine. Here are some ways to picture it:
- By diameter: Jupiter is about 143,000 km wide; Earth is about 12,756 km. Jupiter is more than 11 times wider than Earth.
- By volume: Jupiter has about 1,300 times Earth’s volume. This is often explained as: “about 1,300 Earths could fit inside Jupiter” — like packing tennis balls into a beach ball.
- By mass: Jupiter weighs about 318 times as much as Earth. (It also weighs more than all the other planets in the solar system combined — about 2.5 times as much.)
Take a small grape and put it next to a regular basketball. The grape is Earth. The basketball is Jupiter. Now imagine you could squash 1,300 grapes into the basketball. That is the volume difference. Jupiter doesn’t just feel bigger — it really is on a completely different scale.
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a giant storm — currently roughly the size of our entire planet. A storm. The size of Earth. With wind speeds up to about 680 km/h. Read more about the Great Red Spot →
Gravity — would you weigh more on Jupiter?
Yes, much more — if you could even stand on Jupiter (which you can’t, because there’s no surface). Jupiter’s gravity at the cloud tops is about 2.4 times stronger than Earth’s gravity at the surface.
A 30 kg child would feel as heavy as about 72 kg at Jupiter’s cloud tops — if there were anywhere safe to stand, which there isn’t. Even simple things like jumping would feel impossible — your legs aren’t designed for that much weight. (You couldn’t stand there for long anyway. The atmosphere is hydrogen and helium with no oxygen, and the temperature near the cloud tops is about −145 °C.)
SURFACE GRAVITY — the strength of a planet’s gravity at the place you would normally stand. On Earth it’s about 9.8 m/s². On Jupiter, scientists measure gravity at the cloud tops (because there’s no real surface) — about 23 m/s². That’s why people say you would weigh “about 2.4 times more on Jupiter.”
Days and years — time on Jupiter is different
Jupiter has the shortest day of any planet
Even though Jupiter is the biggest planet, it has the shortest day. One full rotation — a Jupiter day — takes only 9 hours and 56 minutes, less than half an Earth day. That fast spinning is what stretches Jupiter’s storms into the long ribbons we call belts and zones, and it’s also what makes Jupiter a bit “squished” — wider at the equator than from pole to pole.
Jupiter has a much longer year
Jupiter takes almost 12 Earth years to orbit the Sun once. So a 12-year-old on Earth would be barely 1 year old by Jupiter time! That’s because Jupiter is five times further from the Sun, and has a much longer path to travel around its orbit.
Jupiter has very weak seasons
Earth has seasons because it is tilted on its axis by 23.5 degrees — different parts of Earth get more sunlight at different times of year, causing spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Jupiter’s tilt is only 3 degrees — almost straight up. That means Jupiter has almost no seasons. Its weather is driven by internal heat instead.
The atmospheres are totally different
This is one of the biggest differences. Earth’s air and Jupiter’s air are made of completely different gases, in completely different amounts.
Earth’s atmosphere
- 78% nitrogen
- 21% oxygen (this is what we breathe)
- 1% other gases (argon, water vapour, carbon dioxide, and many traces)
- A thin shell of air around a solid surface — only about 100 km thick before space
Jupiter’s atmosphere
- About 90% hydrogen (by volume)
- About 10% helium (by volume)
- Tiny amounts of methane, ammonia, water vapour, hydrogen sulfide, and others
- No oxygen for breathing, no solid surface, and the atmosphere gradually becomes liquid hydrogen and then liquid metallic hydrogen as you go deeper. Read more about Jupiter’s atmosphere →
Jupiter is a place we could one day land on, like Mars.
Jupiter has no solid surface to land on. Spacecraft can fly through Jupiter’s atmosphere, but they get crushed by the pressure and heat below the cloud tops. The only spacecraft to ever directly sample Jupiter’s atmosphere was NASA’s Galileo probe (1995), which survived for just 58 minutes before heat and pressure ended the signal. There is nowhere on Jupiter where a human could safely stand or land.
Moons — Earth has 1, Jupiter has more than 100
Earth has one moon — just the Moon. Big, round, beautiful. It is about 3,475 km wide, which is more than a quarter of Earth’s diameter.
Jupiter has more than 100 confirmed moons. NASA listed 101 officially recognised moons as of March 2026, and the number can change as astronomers confirm more. Most are small, but the four biggest, called the Galilean moons, are world-sized. The biggest of them, Ganymede, is even bigger than Mercury:
- Ganymede — 5,268 km wide, bigger than Mercury. The largest moon in the solar system. Read more →
- Callisto — 4,821 km wide. Read more →
- Io — 3,643 km wide, with more than 400 active volcanoes. Read more →
- Europa — 3,121 km wide, with a hidden ocean of liquid water under the ice. Read more →
The most important difference: life
Earth is the only planet we know of with life. Despite many spacecraft visiting Jupiter, no life has ever been found on Jupiter or any of its moons. Scientists think a few of Jupiter’s moons (especially Europa) might be habitable — meaning life could potentially exist there — because they have liquid water under their ice. But “habitable” is not the same as “inhabited.” Missions like Europa Clipper and JUICE will study these moons — but they are not life-detection missions.
Scientists have identified around 2 million species on Earth so far — plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and more. Many estimates suggest millions more remain undiscovered. Earth’s combination of liquid water on the surface, a breathable atmosphere, the right temperature, a protective magnetic field, and a stable orbit makes it the only place we know of where life has had a chance to evolve. Jupiter, as exciting as it is, doesn’t have those things at the cloud tops or anywhere we could reach.
Why the comparison matters
Comparing Jupiter to Earth isn’t just fun — it teaches scientists important things:
- Two different planet types. Earth and Jupiter are completely different kinds of planets. Studying both helps us understand how planets form and why some are rocky and others gaseous.
- Habitability. Earth is alive. Jupiter is not. Comparing them helps scientists figure out what really makes a planet able to support life.
- Solar system effects. Jupiter’s strong gravity affects every other planet, including Earth. It can capture or push away some comets and asteroids, but it can also send objects inward. Scientists are still working out Jupiter’s complicated role in shaping the solar system.
- Exoplanets. When scientists find planets around other stars (“exoplanets”), they often compare them to either Jupiter or Earth. “Hot Jupiter,” “super-Earth,” and “mini-Neptune” are all types of exoplanets named by comparison with planets in our own solar system.
Jupiter vs Earth is a perfect classroom exercise in orders of magnitude — how to think about numbers that are 10×, 100×, or 1,000× bigger than something familiar. Give students this challenge: “If Earth is a marble (1 cm), how big would Jupiter be?” (Answer: about 11 cm — a baseball.) Then: “If Earth is a basketball (25 cm), how big would Jupiter be?” (Answer: about 280 cm — taller than a fridge.) Concrete scale models are far more memorable than abstract numbers.
Frequently asked questions about Jupiter vs Earth
How much bigger is Jupiter than Earth?
Jupiter is more than 11 times wider than Earth, and you could fit about 1,300 Earths inside Jupiter’s volume. Jupiter is also about 318 times more massive than Earth.
Would I weigh more on Jupiter than on Earth?
Yes — about 2.4 times more. If you weigh 30 kg on Earth, you would weigh about 72 kg at Jupiter’s cloud tops. But you couldn’t actually stand on Jupiter, because there’s no solid surface to stand on.
How long is a Jupiter day compared to an Earth day?
Much shorter. A Jupiter day is only 9 hours 56 minutes — less than half an Earth day. Even though Jupiter is much bigger than Earth, it spins much faster, giving it the shortest day of any planet in the solar system.
How long is a Jupiter year compared to an Earth year?
Much longer. A Jupiter year is about 12 Earth years — because Jupiter is about 5 times further from the Sun than Earth, so it has a much longer path to travel around its orbit. If you’re 12 years old on Earth, you would be barely 1 year old by Jupiter time.
Could a human live on Jupiter?
No. Jupiter has no solid surface to stand on, no oxygen to breathe, freezing cold cloud tops (about −145 °C), winds up to about 575 km/h, crushing pressure deeper down, and intense radiation from the magnetic field. There is nowhere on Jupiter where a human could safely live.
Why does Jupiter have so many more moons than Earth?
Mostly because Jupiter is much bigger — its powerful gravity pulls in passing objects (small rocks, captured asteroids, debris from collisions) more easily than Earth’s does. Earth’s smaller gravity could only keep one large moon. Jupiter has more than 100 confirmed moons; NASA listed 101 officially recognised moons as of March 2026.
Why is Earth denser than Jupiter?
Because Earth is mostly rock and metal (with a solid core, mantle, and crust), and Jupiter is mostly gas and liquid hydrogen. Earth’s mean density is about 5,513 kg/m³ — about 4 times denser than Jupiter’s, which is 1,326 kg/m³.
Why does Jupiter have such weak seasons compared with Earth?
Because Jupiter’s axis is tilted only about 3 degrees, compared to Earth’s 23.5 degrees. Seasons happen on Earth because the tilt makes different parts of the planet face the Sun at different times of year. With such a small tilt, Jupiter has very weak seasons — its weather is driven by internal heat instead.
Is Jupiter dangerous to Earth?
No. Jupiter is hundreds of millions of kilometres away, and its weather, magnetic field, and radiation all stay near Jupiter. Jupiter’s strong gravity affects comets and asteroids in many ways — sometimes capturing or pushing them away, sometimes sending them inward. Scientists are still working out Jupiter’s complicated role in shaping the solar system.
Is Jupiter older than Earth?
About the same age. Both Jupiter and Earth formed around 4.5 billion years ago, from the same cloud of gas and dust that formed the Sun. Scientists think Jupiter probably formed slightly first because it grew bigger faster — but on cosmic timescales, the two planets are the same age.
Could Jupiter become a star?
No. Jupiter is made mostly of hydrogen and helium like the Sun, but it is not massive enough to become a star. It would need to be much more massive (around 80 times its current mass, depending on estimates) for the temperature and pressure at its core to start nuclear fusion. Jupiter is huge by planet standards, but tiny compared to even a small star.
Is Jupiter bigger than the Sun?
No. Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system, but the Sun is much bigger. The Sun is about 10 times wider than Jupiter, and you could fit around a thousand Jupiters inside the Sun. Jupiter is enormous compared to a planet, but small compared to a star.
Is Jupiter like Earth at all?
A little. Both are planets, both orbit the Sun, both are about 4.5 billion years old, both spin on an axis, both have magnetic fields, and both have weather. But Earth is rocky and alive, while Jupiter is a giant planet made mostly of hydrogen and helium with no surface.
Quick recap
- Size: Jupiter is 11× wider than Earth; you could fit 1,300 Earths inside it
- Mass: Jupiter is 318× heavier than Earth (more than all the other planets combined)
- Density: Earth is about 4× denser — rocky vs gas
- Gravity: Jupiter’s gravity at the cloud tops is about 2.4× Earth’s
- Day: Jupiter’s is 9 hours 56 minutes — the shortest of any planet
- Year: Jupiter’s is about 12 Earth years — because it’s about 5× further from the Sun
- Seasons: Earth has them; Jupiter almost doesn’t (3° tilt vs 23.5°)
- Atmosphere: Earth has nitrogen + oxygen (breathable); Jupiter has hydrogen + helium (not breathable)
- Surface: Earth has one; Jupiter doesn’t
- Moons: Earth has 1; Jupiter has more than 100 confirmed
- Life: Earth has it; Jupiter doesn’t (none has ever been found there)
Want to compare Jupiter to another gas giant? See Jupiter vs Saturn next (coming soon). Or learn about Jupiter’s moons, its atmosphere, or how to see Jupiter for yourself.