except Earth! Earth’s Moon isn’t the largest — not by a long shot. The largest planet boasts the largest moon as well, with Jupiter’s Ganymede coming in at over 5,200 kilometers in diameter. … At 3,400 kilometers in diameter, the Moon’s is still larger than Mercury, though.
Is the moon the biggest moon?
Size. Ganymede is the largest and most massive moon in the Solar System. Its diameter of 5,268 km is 0.41 times that of Earth, 0.77 times that of Mars, 1.02 times that of Saturn’s Titan (Solar System’s second largest moon), 1.08 times Mercury’s, 1.09 times Callisto’s, 1.45 times Io’s and 1.51 times the Moon’s.
Which is bigger moon or earth?
The moon is a bit more than one-fourth (27 percent) the size of Earth, a much smaller ratio (1:4) than any other planets and their moons. … Double those figures to get its diameter: 2,159.2 miles (3,475 km), less than a third the width of Earth. The moon’s equatorial circumference is 6,783.5 miles (10,917 km).
Which moon is the largest?
Ganymede. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system (larger than the planet Mercury), and is the only moon known to have its own internally generated magnetic field.
Why does Earth have a large moon?
The giant-impact hypothesis, sometimes called the Big Splash, or the Theia Impact, suggests that the Moon formed from the ejecta of a collision between the proto-Earth and a Mars-sized planetesimal, approximately 4.5 billion years ago, in the Hadean eon (about 20 to 100 million years after the Solar System coalesced).
Can we survive without moon?
The moon influences life as we know it on Earth. It influences our oceans, weather, and the hours in our days. Without the moon, tides would fall, nights would be darker, seasons would change, and the length of our days would alter.
Is Titan bigger than Earth?
Titan is the second largest moon in our solar system. Only Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is larger, by just 2 percent. Titan is bigger than Earth’s moon, and larger than even the planet Mercury.
How cold is it on moon?
Taking the Moon’s Temperature
Daytime temperatures near the lunar equator reach a boiling 250 degrees Fahrenheit (120° C, 400 K), while nighttime temperatures get to a chilly -208 degrees Fahrenheit (-130° C, 140 K). The Moon’s poles are even colder.
Is Russia wider than the moon?
In terms of wideness, Russia has an east-west extent of around 9,000 km / 5,600 mi, and a north-south width of 2,500 to 4,000 km / 1,500 to 2,500 mi. This means that Russia is wider than the Moon when compared from the east-west extent, but smaller in the north-south width.
Is Australia wider than the moon?
Australia’s diameter is 600km wider than the moon’s. The moon sits at 3400km in diameter, while Australia’s diameter from east to west is almost 4000km.
What are the top 5 largest moons?
| Largest moons in the Solar System (diameter over 1,000 km) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Moon | Planet | Mass (planet = 1) |
| Ganymede | Jupiter | 7.80 x 10–5 |
| Titan | Saturn | 2.37 x 10–4 |
| Callisto | Jupiter | 5.67 x 10–5 |
Is Pluto larger than the moon?
Pluto is smaller than Earth’s moon. This dwarf planet takes 248 Earth years to go around the sun. … Its largest moon is named Charon (KAIR-ən). Charon is about half the size of Pluto.
What is the smallest moon?
Hippocamp is just 7,450 miles (12,000 km) interior to the largest and outermost of these other six, the 260-mile-wide (420 km) Proteus. Like Earth’s own moon, Proteus has been slowly spiraling away from its parent planet for eons — and so has Hippocamp, though at a much slower rate.
Is Theia still a planet?
Theia /ˈθiːə/ (Θεία in Greek) or Orpheus (Ορφεύς) /ˈɔːrfiːəs, ˈɔːrfjuːs/) is a hypothesized ancient planet in the early Solar System that, according to the giant-impact hypothesis, collided with the early Earth around 4.5 billion years ago, with some of the resulting ejected debris gathering to form the Moon.
Can the moon crash into Earth?
The moon does not fall to Earth because it is in an orbit. One of the most difficult things to learn about physics is the concept of force. Just because there is a force on something does not mean it will be moving in the direction of the force.
How close was the moon a billion years ago?
Sediments from China suggest that 1.4 billion years ago the Earth-moon distance was 341,000km (its current distance is 384,000km).