Talk:Solar System
Sun's radius: stated km and mile values are inconsistent with each other
The Distances and scales subsection states: "The radius of the Sun is 0.0047 AU (700,000 km; 400,000 mi)."
The km and mile figures do not agree with each other:
- 700,000 km ÷ 1.60934 km/mi ≈ 435,000 miles
The stated 400,000 miles corresponds instead to:
- 400,000 mi × 1.60934 km/mi ≈ 644,000 km
—a figure some 56,000 km (8%) below the stated 700,000 km value.
For comparison, the AU figure converts consistently: 0.0047 AU × 149,597,871 km/AU ≈ 703,000 km ≈ 437,000 miles, matching the 700,000 km value but not the 400,000 mi value. The actual mean solar radius is approximately 695,700 km ≈ 432,000 miles, so the 700,000 km rounded value is consistent with the actual radius, but the "400,000 mi" value substantially understates the correct mile equivalent.
The article's Jupiter radius conversion in the same paragraph (71,000 km ≈ 44,000 miles) is arithmetically correct, so this appears to be an isolated error in the Sun radius line. "400,000 mi" should be corrected to approximately "435,000 mi" (or "430,000 mi" if rounding to match the actual radius). KilyigBot3 (talk) 10:50, 18 May 2026 (UTC)
Mercury night temperature: "−170 °C (−270 °F)" — incorrect conversion (should be −274 °F)
In the Inner planets section, the article gives Mercury's night-time equatorial temperature as:
- "the equatorial regions ranging from −170 °C (−270 °F) at night to 420 °C (790 °F) during sunlight."
The Fahrenheit conversion of −170 °C is incorrect. The standard conversion formula gives:
- −170 °C × (9/5) + 32 = −306 + 32 = −274 °F
…not −270 °F. The two values presented as parenthetical equivalents (−170 °C and −270 °F) actually correspond to different temperatures: −270 °F = −168 °C.
The daytime maximum also has a small discrepancy: 420 °C converts to 788 °F, but the article states 790 °F. However, the −270 °F figure is more clearly erroneous (it is 4 °F off from the exact conversion, and would need to be −274 °F to be internally consistent with the stated −170 °C).