How Many Earths Can Fit Inside the Sun?

The Sun is the predominant celestial body in our Solar System, accounting for an overwhelming 99.86% of its total mass. The remaining 0.14% is shared among the giant planets, with Jupiter being the most prominent. When compared to the Sun, Earth seems like a minuscule speck, as illustrated in this image that contrasts our planet's size to that of the star. Observe how Earth appears almost inconsequential next to the solar prominence in the upper right corner, a high-energy plasma jet that extends thousands of kilometers into space from the solar chromosphere.

To quantify the difference in size between the Sun and Earth, we can calculate how many Earths would be needed to fill the Sun's entire volume. Given the radius of a sphere, its volume can be computed using the formula V = (4/3) * π * r^3, where π is pi (≈3.14) and r represents the radius.

With the radii of both Earth and the Sun well established, we can determine the Sun's volume to be approximately 1,412 x 10^18 km3 and Earth's volume to be around 1,083 x 10^12 km3. By dividing the Sun's volume by Earth's volume, we can deduce that it would take nearly 1.3 million Earths to occupy the entire volume of the Sun.

It's important to note that the Sun is a medium-sized star, and there are stars in the universe that are thousands of times larger. One such example, VY Canis Majoris, has a radius ranging between 1,800 and 2,100 solar radii, with a volume that is billions of times greater than the Sun's. Just imagine how many Earths would be required to fill such an enormous star!

Credit: NASA.