Jupiter is the largest of the eight planets; more than 1/10 the diameter of the Sun itself and more than 11 times the diameter of Earth. Saturn is only slightly smaller than Jupiter, with a diameter of 9.5 Earths. Uranus and Neptune are each about 4 Earth diameters across, with Neptune being the slightly smaller of the two. Figure 10.3 compares the actual relative diameters of the giant planets with their relative apparent diameters as seen from Earth. Planetary diameters are most accurately measured during stellar occultations, when the planet passes in front of a star (Figure 10.4). For example, if Newton’s laws say that a particular planet is moving at a speed of precisely 25 kilometers per second (km/s) relative to Earth, and this planet takes exactly 2,000 seconds to pass directly in front of a star, then the planet has a diameter equal to the distance it traveled during the 2,000 seconds, or 50,000 km. The center of a planet rarely passes directly in front of a star, but astronomers can calculate both the planet’s diameter and its shape from observations taken from several widely separated locations. Occultations of the radio signals transmitted from orbiting spacecraft and images taken by the spacecraft cameras also provide accurate measures of the diameters and shapes of planets and their moons.