The closest planet to the earth

What is the closest planet to Earth in 2024?

For example, when this article was written (January 2024), the closest planet to Earth was Mercury. But in around eight months, Venus will be the closest planet to us, and in another two months or so, Mars will have surpassed Venus as our closest neighbor. However, less than a month later Venus will have wrestled back the title.

Which planet is closest to the Sun?

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, orbiting at an average distance of 36 million miles (58 million kilometers). Mercury is 57 million miles closer to the Sun than Earth. Pluto is the largest dwarf planet in our solar system, just slightly larger than Eris, at number two.

Which planet is closest to Earth?

But in around eight months, Venus will be the closest planet to us, and in another two months or so, Mars will have surpassed Venus as our closest neighbor. However, less than a month later Venus will have wrestled back the title. Which planet is closest to Earth on average? This is where things get really interesting.

Is Venus the closest planet to Earth?

But as an article in Physics Today points out, over half the time Venus is not the nearest planet; Mercury is. In fact, the scientists behind the article crunched the numbers and found that on average, Mercury is the closest planet not only to Earth but to every other planet in the solar system as well. Trippy.

Is Mercury closest to Earth?

While it is interesting that Mercury is closest to Earth (and all the other planets) on AVERAGE, that fact doesn't address the most significant issue we mean by "closeness" of a neighboring planet, which is the closest approach of a neighboring planet and the access we might have to a neighboring planet due to that closeness.

Which planets are closest to each other?

Further, Mercury is the closest neighbor, on average, to each of the other seven planets in the solar system. To calculate the average distance between two planets, The Planets and other websites assume the orbits are coplanar and subtract the average radius of the inner orbit, r 1, from the average radius of the outer orbit, r 2.