Jupiter vs Saturn
Jupiter (142,984 km) is 1.19× the size of Saturn (120,536 km).
Saturn is 84% of the height of Jupiter. The gap between them is 22,448 km (73,648,294 ft).
The comparison in numbers
| Thing | Size | In feet | Measured as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jupiter | 142,984 km | 469,107,612 ft | diameter |
| Saturn | 120,536 km | 395,459,318 ft | diameter |
What the scale shows
Jupiter (142,984 km) is 1.19× the size of Saturn (120,536 km). The gap between them is 22,448 km (73,648,294 ft). Both are planets & moons, so the figures describe the same kind of thing.
Draw both on one baseline and the smaller one fills 84% of the frame while the larger one runs to the top. The two are close enough that the difference is easy to see side by side.
Read the rest — 8 more sections
What each figure means
The figure for Jupiter is its diameter (equatorial diameter). The figure for Saturn is its diameter (equatorial diameter).
Crossing them
At a jet's 900 km/h, Jupiter's 142,984 km would take 6.6 days and Saturn's 120,536 km would take 5.6 days.
In people: Jupiter is 84,108,235 adults of 1.7 m tall, Saturn is 70,903,529.4. By size Jupiter is 2nd of the 16 planets & moons on this site and Saturn is 3rd, so 1 place separates them in the ranking.
How to read these two figures
Before trusting any comparison, check what each number measures. Jupiter is given as a diameter, equatorial diameter. Saturn is given as a diameter, equatorial diameter. Both are diameter figures, so putting them on one baseline is a like-for-like comparison, although the exact individual or convention still matters.
Worlds are listed by diameter. Gas giants are not round, so equatorial diameter is used for them and mean diameter for the rest. All figures are rounded from published mission data.
Where the pair sits among all the sizes here
Across all 86 things on this site, Jupiter is number 2 from the top and Saturn is number 3. No other item falls between them, so in this collection they are direct neighbours.
Because the collection spans 13 mm up to 1,392,700 km, a ratio of 107,130,769,231× from smallest to largest, the position of a pair says a lot: both sit in the upper third of the list.
What the length ratio hides
A length ratio of 1.19× is easy to picture, but area and volume grow faster than length. If two objects had exactly the same shape, Jupiter would have about 1.41× the surface or footprint of Saturn, and about 1.67× the volume. These two are not the same shape, so treat the figures as an upper bound for an imaginary scaled copy, not as a measurement of either one.
The drawing above shows length only. Saturn is drawn 84% as tall as Jupiter, but the equivalent share of footprint would be only 71.1%, which is why the smaller one looks even slighter than the numbers alone suggest.
Time to cross each one
Light travels at 299,792,458 m/s, so it crosses Jupiter (142,984 km) in 477 milliseconds and Saturn (120,536 km) in 402 milliseconds. A jet at 900 km/h would take 6.6 days for the larger and 5.6 days for the smaller.
These times assume a straight line and constant speed, which no real crossing has, but they turn a number in metres into something the body understands. At any fixed speed the travel times keep the same 1.19× ratio as the sizes.
The same figures in other units
Jupiter measures 142,984 km, which is 469,107,612 ft or 88,846.1 miles. Saturn measures 120,536 km, which is 395,459,318 ft or 74,897.6 miles.
The difference between them is 22,448 km (73,648,294 ft). In kilometres the smaller one is 120,536 against 142,984, so the 1.19× ratio holds in every unit; only the numbers on the ruler change.
Questions people ask about this pair
Which is bigger, Jupiter or Saturn?
Jupiter is bigger. At 142,984 km it is 1.19× the size of Saturn, which is 120,536 km.
How many times does Saturn fit along Jupiter?
Less than twice: Saturn is 84% of the size of Jupiter, so one fits with 22,448 km to spare.
Are the two figures measured the same way?
Yes in kind: both are diameter figures. Jupiter is equatorial diameter; Saturn is equatorial diameter.
How does the gap look in people?
Taking an adult of 1.7 m, Jupiter is about 84,108,235 people tall and Saturn is about 70,903,529.4. The gap of 22,448 km is 13,204,706 people.
Where do the numbers come from?
Each item has its own page that names the measurement and links to the Wikipedia article it was taken from. Some figures are rounded, and animals vary from one individual to the next, so treat them as representative values rather than records for every case.
How the sizes are taken. Each figure says what it measures — height, length, diameter or elevation — and for which individual or convention. Everything is drawn standing upright on one baseline so a single scale holds, including things that are long rather than tall. Values come from the linked Wikipedia article for each item.