Jupiter vs the Sun: How Many Jupiters Fit Inside the Sun?

# Jupiter vs the Sun: How Many Jupiters Fit Inside the Sun?

The Sun has roughly 1,000 times Jupiter’s volume. That is why the usual answer says about 1,000 Jupiters could fit inside the Sun. The number is a volume comparison, not a literal packing result: equally sized spheres leave empty space when packed inside a larger sphere.

The Sun is about ten times Jupiter’s diameter and about 1,048 times its mass. Jupiter is enormous for a planet, but it remains tiny beside our star.

Jupiter and the Sun at a glance

Values are rounded, and the exact ratio changes slightly with the adopted reference radius. Jupiter rotates rapidly and is wider at its equator than from pole to pole.

The volume calculation

The volume of a sphere is:

V = 4/3 × π × r³

When comparing two spheres, the shared constants cancel:

Sun/Jupiter volume ratio = (Sun radius ÷ Jupiter radius)³

Using NASA’s rounded Sun radius of 700,000 km and Jupiter’s mean radius of 69,911 km:

(700,000 ÷ 69,911)³ ≈ 1,003

Using a more precise conventional solar radius near 695,700 km produces a ratio closer to 986. Both calculations support the appropriately rounded answer: about 1,000 Jupiter volumes equal the Sun’s volume.

Why does a tenfold radius become a thousandfold volume?

Volume grows with the cube of radius. If a sphere is ten times wider in radius, its volume is:

10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000 times greater

That cubic relationship is the central idea. The Sun does not need to be hundreds of times wider than Jupiter to hold roughly a thousand times its volume.

Could 1,000 intact Jupiters literally fit?

Not quite. The simple calculation treats Jupiter’s material as if it could fill the Sun’s entire volume without gaps. Intact spherical Jupiters arranged inside a spherical boundary would leave empty spaces between them, especially near the curved outer edge.

In ordinary close packing, equal spheres fill no more than about 74% of an unlimited volume. Boundary effects reduce or alter the count further in a finite container. A literal geometric packing problem would therefore yield fewer intact Jupiter-sized spheres than the volume ratio.

In reality, neither body has a solid boundary. Jupiter is a gas giant with no solid surface, while the visible “surface” of the Sun is a layer called the photosphere. Putting Jupiters into the Sun is a scale analogy, not a physically possible arrangement.

Is the Sun 1,000 times heavier than Jupiter?

The mass ratio is similar but not identical to the volume ratio. The Sun is about 1,048 times more massive than Jupiter.

This does not mean they have equal average density. Jupiter’s average density is about 1.33 grams per cubic centimetre, while the Sun’s average density is about 1.41 grams per cubic centimetre. Their internal structures are also radically different.

The Sun contains about 99.8% of the Solar System’s mass. Jupiter contains more than twice the combined mass of the other planets, yet only about one-thousandth of the Sun’s mass.

How many Jupiters fit across the Sun?

Only about ten Jupiter diameters span the Sun’s diameter. “Across” is a one-dimensional comparison; “inside” normally refers to volume.

This distinction explains why both of these statements can be correct:

• About 10 Jupiters fit side by side across the Sun.
• About 1,000 Jupiter volumes equal the Sun’s volume.

Could Jupiter ever become a star?

No, not at its current mass. Jupiter is made mostly of hydrogen and helium, like the Sun, but its core never became hot and dense enough for sustained hydrogen fusion.

An object generally needs about 75–80 Jupiter masses to begin sustained hydrogen fusion, with the precise threshold depending on composition. Objects between giant planets and the smallest stars include brown dwarfs, which can fuse deuterium for part of their evolution but not sustain ordinary hydrogen fusion like the Sun.

How does Earth add to the comparison?

NASA estimates that approximately 1.3 million Earth volumes fit inside the Sun, while about 1,300 Earth volumes fit inside Jupiter. Dividing those rounded figures again gives about 1,000 Jupiters per Sun.

These are volume equivalents. Literal sphere packing would again produce a smaller count.

The short answer

The Sun contains approximately 1,000 times Jupiter’s volume, is about 10 times wider, and is about 1,048 times more massive. The popular “1,000 Jupiters fit inside the Sun” answer is a useful volume comparison, not a literal packing experiment.

Update note: This article was substantially revised and independently recalculated on August 23, 2026, to correct the volume ratio and distinguish volume equivalence from literal sphere packing.

Sources

• NASA Science, Jupiter Facts
• NASA Science, Sun: Facts
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planetary Physical Parameters