When the planet Jupiter is at a distance of 824.7 million kilometres from the Earth, its angular diameter is measured to be 35.72” of arc. Calculate the diameter of Jupiter.

Question

Philoid · Accepted Answer

Given,

Distance of Jupiter from Earth, D = 824.7 million kilometres

⇒ D = 824.7 × 10⁶ × 10³ m

⇒ D = 8.247 × 10¹¹ m

Angular diameter, θ = 35.72”

⇒ θ = 35.72 × 1’/60

Let d be the diameter of Jupiter.

We know,

θ = d/D

⇒ d = θD

⇒ d = 1.43 × 10⁸ m