| DESCRIPTION | HEAVENLY BODY | EXPLANATION |
| Nearest star to the Earth | Sun | The Sun, which is at a distance of 92,955,900 miles from Earth is the nearest star to Earth. The distance of the Sun from the Earth is termed as 1 Astronomical Unit. Light from the Sun takes nearly 8 minutes to reach the Earth. |
| Nearest star to the Earth (other than the Sun) | Proxima Centauri | Proxima Centauri, which was discovered in the year 1915, is at a distance of nearly 4.2 light years from Earth. One light year is equal to the distance light travels in one year. |
| Brightest star as seen from the Earth | Dog Star (Sirius) | Sirius A (Alpha Canis Majoris), also known as the Dog Star, is the brightest star visible from the surface of Earth. It has an apparent brightness magnitude of -1.46. It is nearly 8.65 light years away from the Earth and has luminosity 26 times greater than that of the Sun. It is visible in the winter months of the northern hemisphere. |
| Largest planet of our solar system | Jupiter | Jupiter, with an equatorial diameter of 88,080 miles is the largest of the nine planets that revolve around the Sun. Its mass is approximately 320 times, and volume 1300 times that of the Earth. In other words, Jupiter could contain 1300 Earths. |
| Smallest planet of our solar system | Pluto | Contrary to popular opinion, Mercury is not the smallest planet. Pluto, the outermost planet, with a diameter of 1430 miles is the smallest planet of our solar system. |
| Coldest planet of our solar system | Pluto | Pluto, discovered by William Tombaugh, is the planet which is farthest from the Sun. It is the coldest planet of the solar system. It is so cold that when in 1992, scientists discovered nitrogen on Pluto, it was in SOLID form. It is the only outer planet made of solid material. |
| Planet of our solar system with fastest orbiting speed | Mercury | Mercury, at a speed of 107,030 mph, takes about 88 days to orbit the Sun and is the fastest planet of our solar system. |
| Hottest planet of our solar system | Venus | American and Russian space probes have found out the temperature on the surface of Venus is 465 oC, making it the hottest planet of our solar system. |
| Planet closest to Earth | Venus | Venus is at times about 25 million miles away from the Earth. Mars is at a distance of 34 million miles. |
| Brightest planet as viewed from the Earth | Venus | Venus, also known as the Evening star, is the brightest planet as seen from the surface of the Earth. It has an apparent brightness magnitude of -4.4. |
| Densest planet of the solar system | Earth | Our planet Earth, with a density of nearly 5.5 times that of water, is the densest planet of our solar system. Saturn, with a density about 0.69 times that of water, is the one with the lowest density. If the planets were placed in a huge ocean, then Saturn would be the only one to float on the water. |
| Largest satellite (natural) of our solar system | Ganymede | Ganymede, the satellite of Jupiter, with a diameter of 3275 miles is the largest satellite of our solar system. |
| Heaviest satellite (natural) of our solar system | Ganymede | Ganymede is one of the 16 satellites of Jupiter. It has a mass nearly double that of the moon. |
| Satellite closest to the parent planet | Phobos | Phobos is one of the 2 satellites of Mars. It is at a distance of nearly 5800 miles from the center of Mars making it the satellite that is closest to the parent planet. |
| Satellite farthest from the parent planet | Sinope | Sinope is the outermost of the 16 satellites of Jupiter. It is at a staggering distance of 14 million miles from Jupiter. |
| Largest ocean in the world | Pacific Ocean | Pacific Ocean represents nearly half of all the world's oceans. Oceans represent 94% of the Earth's water. |
| Deepest part of the ocean | Marianas Trench | Marianas Trench, pinpointed by HM Survey Ship Challenger, is located in the Pacific Ocean. The bathyscape Trieste descended to its bottom at 35,813 ft. |
| Largest sea | South China Sea | |
| Largest bay (in terms of shoreline length) | Hudson Bay | |
| Largest bay (in terms of area) | Bay of Bengal | |
| Largest continent | Asia | Asia is the largest continent accounting for about 29.5% of all the land on the Earth. |
| Smallest continent | Australia | The Australian continent consists of Australia along with New Zealand, Tasmania, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. It is also sometimes referred to as the Oceania. |
| Largest peninsula | Arabia | |
| Largest island | Greenland | Greenland was discovered by Eric the Red. Australia, which is larger that Greenland, is considered a continent. Greenland is 3 times as large as Borneo, the second largest island in the world, and 9 times as big as Honshu, the largest island of Japan. |
| Highest mountain | Mount Everest | Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first people to reach the top of Mount Everest. The 10 highest peaks are all found in the Himalayan mountain range north of India. The 3 highest peaks are Mount Everest (29,030 ft), K2 (28,250 ft) and Kanchenjunga (28,210 ft). |
| Highest waterfall | Angel Falls | Angel Falls with a total drop of 3210 ft and the longest single drop of 2610 ft are located in Venezuela on the river Carrao. They are named after the American Pilot Jimmy Angel who recorded them in his log book while flying over them in 1935. The Tugela Falls in South Africa with a drop of 3110 ft are the second highest waterfall. |
| Greatest waterfall (in terms of flow rate) | Boyoma (formerly Stanley) Falls | The greatest waterfalls are Boyoma Falls in Zaire (17,000 m3/s), Khône Falls in Laos (11,600 m3/s) and Niagara Falls on the Canada / US border (5,830 m3/s). |
| Widest waterfall | Khône Falls | Khône Falls are in Laos. |
| Longest river | Amazon | The total length of the Amazon in South America is 4195 miles. Its navigable length of 3750 miles is the greatest of any river. River Nile had been regarded as the longest but its present estimated length is about 4145 miles. |
| Largest lake | Caspian Sea | Caspian Sea is located in Azerbaijan (Asia) and has a total area of 143,240 square miles. |
| Deepest lake | Lake Baikal | Lake Baikal is located in Siberia and is the deepest lake in the world at 5315 ft. |
| Highest lake | Lake Titicaca | Lake Titicaca is located at the border of Peru and Bolivia. |
| Largest freshwater lake | Lake Superior | Lake Superior is one of the Great Lakes. About 65% of Lake Superior is located in the United States and the rest is in Canada. |
| Largest desert | Sahara Desert | The Sahara Desert in Africa covers a surface area of 3.5 million square miles. |
| River with the greatest water flow | Amazon | The Amazon flows into the ocean at a rate of 18,000 m3/s. |
| Smallest ocean in the world | Arctic Ocean | |
| Hottest place on the Earth (for extended periods of time) | Death Valley, California | |
| Place where the hottest temperature was recorded | Al Aziziyah | |
| Place where lowest temperature was recorded | Vostok | |
| Place with highest annual rainfall | Meghalaya, India | |
| Largest active volcano | Mauna Loa, Hawaii | Mauna Loa, Hawaii last erupted in 1984. |
| Place which has had the longest drought | Atacama Desert | |
| Largest star | Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) | |
