The fifth planet from the sun By: Ally Morrison Click to begin

Shape and Size Composition Moons The Great Red Spot Spacecraft Flyby Atmosphere Return to Home Page

Home Jupiter’s Atmosphere Like other planets, Jupiter has an extremely unique atmosphere. Jupiter consists of three layers of clouds. These clouds contain ammonia ice, ammonium hydrosulfide, and a mixture of ice and water. At some times the clouds temperature can be as cold as -150°c. These clouds are spread out at different levels in the atmosphere.

Shape and Size Jupiter’s diameter is 142,984 km equilateral. Jupiter is the largest planet. The mass of Jupiter is 1.9 x kg. It is more than twice as massive than all the other planets combined. Jupiter is about 318 times larger than earth. Home

Composition Jupiter is one of the gas planets, it consists of 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. On Jupiter there has been traces of methane, water, ammonia, and rock. These contents are very similar to those of Saturn. Home

Jupiter’s Moons Jupiter has many moons. 57 of them have already been discovered. The outer 33 moons orbit around Jupiter in the opposite direction of that which it rotates. The two moons closest to Jupiter are named Metis and Adrastea. The little gravity that these moons have are enough to keep particles of Jupiter from falling apart. Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter as well as the largest moon of our solar system.

The Great Red Spot The great red spot on Jupiter is a high pressure storm similar to that of a hurricane on earth, but larger.

In 1973, Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to flyby Jupiter, followed by Pioneer 11 in On September 7 th 1977, Voyager 1 was launched and flew by Jupiter on March 5 th, In 1995 on it’s way to Saturn came within the closest of Jupiter, (109 miles) in a flyby attempt. On September 21 st 2003, Galileo crashed into Jupiter’s intense atmosphere and was destroyed. Spacecraft Flyby Home