Solar System / Scale

Every Planet Ever Found In Our Solar System Is A Rounding Error Next To The Sun

2026-07-24
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Everything in the solar system — and the Sun owns 99.8% of it.

Everything in the solar system — and the Sun owns 99.8% of it. All eight planets, every moon, every asteroid, every comet ever discovered — the whole lot together makes up just 0.2% of the total mass. That remaining fraction includes Earth. It includes Jupiter, which we think of as enormous. All of it, a rounding error. To put the volume in perspective: about 1.3 million Earths could fit inside the Sun. And whilst all that matter orbits quietly around it, the Sun is burning through roughly 600 million tonnes of hydrogen every single second, converting it into helium — and it is precisely that process, that outpouring of energy, that keeps every planet locked in its orbit. Without it, the solar system simply scatters. Follow Deep Field Vault for more of the universe, one true fact at a time.

THE SUN'S SHARE

  • 99.8% of all
  • mass in the
  • solar system

EVERYTHING ELSE

  • All planets, moons,
  • asteroids & comets
  • = 0.2%

SCALE CHECK

  • ~1.3 million Earths
  • fit inside
  • the Sun

EVERY SECOND

  • 600 million tonnes
  • of hydrogen
  • fused into helium

THE GRIP

  • That fusion
  • keeps every orbit
  • in place
Imagery: NASA (public domain) · View original on NASA ↗
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