JUPITER

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It is a “gas giant” or “Jovian” planet. It’s mass is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in the Solar System combined!

From Earth, Jupiter appears brighter than most stars. It is the second brightest planet we can see from Earth, after Venus.

Ancient astronomers named Jupiter after the king of the Roman gods. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. It is more than five times Earth's distance from the Sun. Ancient astronomers named Jupiter after the king of the Roman gods. (In Greek mythology, Zeus is Jupiter’s counterpart.)

One was the “Galileo Orbiter”: 7 crewless exploratory crafts have passed close enough to Jupiter to photograph or observe it. One was the “Galileo Orbiter”: In 1995, it sent a probe into the planet. It traveled into the atmosphere, collected data for 57.6 minutes, and was crushed by pressure. Scientists believed it melted shortly thereafter, and possibly vaporized. The Galileo orbiter itself was deliberately steered into the planet to avoid any possibility of it crashing into and possibly contaminating Europa—a moon which has been hypothesized to have the possibility of harboring life! Don’t copy

Jupiter is a giant ball of gas and liquid with no solids near the surface. Turbulent belts of different color clouds.

One year on Jupiter is about 12 Earth years. Jupiter rotates faster than any other planet. One day on Jupiter takes only 9 hours and 56 minutes!

Jupiter's rapid rotation makes it bulge at the equator and flatten at the poles. 7% larger at the equator than at the poles because it spins so fast.

Jupiter has 318 times the mass of Earth. Although Jupiter has a large mass, it has a relatively low density. (About ¼ that of Earth’s)

Because of Jupiter's low density, astronomers believe that the planet consists primarily of hydrogen and helium, the lightest elements.

Jupiter may have a core made up of heavy elements Jupiter may have a core made up of heavy elements. The core may be of materials similar to those found on Earth (iron and nickel). ?

The gravity of Jupiter is up to 2.4 times stronger than on Earth. 100 pounds on Earth = 240 pounds on Jupiter.

The Great Red Spot is a massive hurricane about three times Earth’s diameter.  size comparison It has been there since we began observing Jupiter in the 1600’s.

Jupiter has a faint ring system, made of dust Jupiter has a faint ring system, made of dust. They are not as reflective as the ice particles of Saturn’s. Discovered when Jupiter’s reflected light was purposely blocked in 1970.

Temperature at the cloud tops = -230°F At a certain depth, a comfortable temperature of about 70°F exists, perhaps life could thrive there if it were airborne. Due to extreme pressure, temps near the core are near 43,000°F

MOONS 4 Moons were discovered by Galileo shortly after he pointed the telescope to the sky in the early 1600’s. The Galilean Moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto We now know that Jupiter has at least 67 moons

Galileo drew a picture each night of the 4 objects.

Objects revolving around something other than Earth was an astounding discovery. The Catholic church was not pleased.

Most of the moons of Jupiter are small, with about 50 of them being less than 6 miles wide. Most were not discovered until the 1970’s.

More on the Moons… Europa: Likely has liquid ocean beneath a Io: The most volcanically active object in the entire solar system. Ganymede: Larger than the planet Mercury! Europa: Likely has liquid ocean beneath a frozen crust!

Jupiter is our Vacuum Cleaner Without Jupiter’s immense gravity cleaning up deadly floating debris in the solar system, we would have been killed long ago. We may have not even been granted a long enough period on Earth for humans to have a chance to evolve! Thanks Jupiter!

Huge impact from debris in 2009. left a 5,000 mile wide blemish. 5,000 miles on Earth for comparison!