Europa size and scale context

Europa is Jupiter's smallest Galilean moon and one of the Solar System's most compelling icy worlds. Its bright water-ice crust is crossed by long fractures, while spacecraft data strongly suggest a salty ocean hidden beneath the surface. Read its scale context, comparisons, and journey links on the canonical object page.

IapetusTwo-toned icy moon·1,470 km

PlutoDwarf planet·2,380 km

EuropaIcy Galilean moon·3,100 km

MoonRocky moon·3,470 km

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Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

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Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

Editorial

Solar System Planets From Electron to Atoms Stars To Scale Birth And Death Of Stars Black Holes To Scale

Views

Planets of the Solar System Stars of the Universe Black holes Subatomic scale

Open Scale of Space Browse all comparisons

Dwarf planets

Pluto

Pluto is an icy dwarf planet with a surprisingly active surface and atmosphere. New Horizons found nitrogen-ice glaciers flowing across its plains and blue hazes in its sky, showing that even the Kuiper Belt can host dynamic worlds.

Scale fact2,380 kmdiameter

Object class: Dwarf planet
Mass: ~0.0022 Earth masses
Host: Sun
Estimated age: ~4.5 billion years
Composition: Rock, water ice, nitrogen and methane ices
Temperature: ~44 K mean surface

Moons

Europa

Scale fact3,100 kmdiameter

Object class: Icy Galilean moon
Mass: ~0.008 Earth masses
Host: Jupiter
Estimated age: ~4.5 billion years
Composition: Water ice, silicate rock, probable salty ocean
Temperature: ~102 K mean surface

Moons

Moon

The Moon is Earth's natural satellite and our clearest visual anchor on planetary scale. It is still drifting away from Earth by about 3.8 centimeters each year, a slow tidal migration that has been reshaping the Earth-Moon system for billions of years.

Scale fact3,470 kmdiameter

Object class: Rocky moon
Mass: ~0.012 Earth masses
Host: Earth
Estimated age: ~4.5 billion years
Composition: Silicate rock