Since Pluto is no longer a planet, Mercury is the smallest and Jupiter is the biggest.
2007-01-14 16:14:16
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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The smallest planet is Mercury since Pluto is no longer considered a planet.
The largest planet is Jupiter.
2007-01-14 17:08:08
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answer #2
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answered by Northstar 7
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The largest is Jupiter.
The smallest used to be Pluto, but that rock isn't a planet anymore...
2007-01-14 16:12:06
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answer #3
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answered by andyseaver 1
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Mercury (IPA: /ˈmɜː(r).kjʊ.ri/) is the innermost and smallest planet in the solar system, orbiting the Sun once every 88 days. It ranges in brightness from about −2.0 to 5.5 in apparent magnitude, but is not easily seen — its greatest angular separation from the Sun (greatest elongation) is only 28.3° (it can only be seen in twilight). Comparatively little is known about the planet: the only spacecraft to approach Mercury was Mariner 10 from 1974 to 1975, which mapped only 40%–45% of the planet's surface.
Physically, Mercury is similar in appearance to the Moon as it is heavily cratered. It has no natural satellites and no substantial atmosphere. The planet has a large iron core which generates a magnetic field about 1% as strong as that of the Earth. Surface temperatures on Mercury range from about 90 to 700 K (-180 to 430°C), with the subsolar point being the hottest and the bottoms of craters near the poles being the coldest.
The Romans named the planet after the fleet-footed messenger god Mercury, probably for its fast apparent motion in the twilight sky. The astronomical symbol for Mercury, displayed at the top of the infobox, is a stylized version of the god's head and winged hat atop his caduceus, an ancient astrological symbol. Before the 5th century BC, Greek astronomers believed the planet to be two separate objects: one visible only at sunrise, the other only at sunset. In India, the planet was named Budha (बुध), after the son of Chandra (the Moon). The Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese cultures refer to the planet as the water star (水星), based on the Five Elements. The Hebrews named it Kokhav Hamah (כוכב חמה), "the star of the hot one" ("the hot one" being the Sun).
and
Jupiter (IPA: [ˈdʒupɪtər]) is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest within the solar system. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets combined.
The planet was known to early astronomers since ancient times, was named after Jupiter, the principal God of Roman mythology by the Romans during the era of Classical Antiquity, and is classified by modern astronomers as a gas giant planet. Jupiter shares the gas giant classification with three other planets in the Solar System, namely Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and together, these four planets are sometimes referred to as the Jovian planets (Jovian being the adjectival form of Jupiter, derived from the Latin genitive of the noun).
The planet Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen, with a smaller portion of helium and a rocky core. Due to its rapid rotation the planet possesses a slight but noticeable bulge around the equator, giving it an oblate appearance. The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries. A prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that has been existent since at least the seventeenth century. Surrounding the planet is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere. There are also at least 63 moons, including the four large moons that were first discovered by Galileo Galilei.
Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft; most notably during the early Pioneer and Voyager fly-by missions, and later by the Galileo orbiter. Future targets for exploration include the possible ice-covered liquid ocean on the Jovian moon Europa.
You could get more information from the 2 links below...
2007-01-14 20:37:07
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answer #4
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answered by catzpaw 6
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