Planet Jupiter
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Diameter: 89,000 miles (143,000 km)
Average Distance from Sun: 484 million miles (779 million km)
Orbital Period: 12 years
Rotation Period: 9.93 hours
Moons: 63
Maximum Temperatures: 24,000C (43,000F) (Core)
Minimum Temperatures: -145C (-230F) (Cloud Tops)

Gravity: 20.87 m/s2 (2.14 x Earth's Gravity)
Density: 1.33 g/cm3 (24% Earth's Density)
Mass: 1.8987 x 1027 kg (318 x Earth's Mass)
Volume: 1.4255 x 1015 km3 (1316 x Earth's Volume)

Atmosphere: 86% Hydrogen, 14% Helium, 0.3% Methane, 0.026% Ammonia, 0.003% Hydrogen deuteride, 0.0006% Ethane, 0.0004% water.


Facts & Information
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Planet Jupiter
planet Jupiter
Image taken by Voyager 1 on its approach to Jupiter in 1979

Jupiter's red spot
jupiter's red spot
You could fit three Earths inside Jupiter's giant red spot
Planet Jupiter Facts
  • Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Its diameter is 88,846 miles (142,984 km), more than 11 times that of Earth, and about one-tenth that of the sun.
  • It would take more than 1,000 Earths to fill up the volume of the giant planet.
  • When viewed from Earth, Jupiter appears brighter than most stars. It is usually the second brightest planet after Venus.
  • Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. Its average distance from the sun is about 484 million miles (779 million km), more than five times Earth's distance.
  • Jupiter is a giant ball of gas and liquid with little, if any, solid surface.
  • The red spot (left) is a giant storm which has raged for hundreds of years.
  • Astronomers witnessed a spectacular event in July 1994, when 21 fragments of a comet named Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter's atmosphere. The impacts caused tremendous explosions, some scattering debris over areas larger than the diameter of Earth.
Orbit, Atmosphere & Temperature

Orbit
Jupiter travels once around the Sun every 12 years and spins on its own axis every 10 hours compared to 24 on Earth, making it the fastest rotating planet in the Solar System.

Atmosphere
The atmosphere of Jupiter is composed of about 86 percent hydrogen, 14 percent helium, and tiny amounts of methane, ammonia, phosphine, water, acetylene, ethane, germanium, and carbon monoxide.

Temperature
The temperature at the top of Jupiter's clouds is around -145C (-230F). Deeper below the clouds the temperate reaches 21C (70F). Near the planet's center the temperature is hotter than the surface of the Sun!

Moons, Name and Life
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jupiter with passing moon
The volcanic moon Io orbiting Jupiter

Moons & Origin of Name
Jupiter has 62 moons, 16 of which have a diameter of at least 6 miles. The four main moons of Jupiter are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, all discovered in 1610 by Galileo and referred to as the "Galilean Moons" (see below).
Jupiter was named by the Romans after their King of Gods.

Life on Jupiter
Amazing as it may seem some scientists have speculated that life on Jupiter is possible. This would occur beneath the cloud cover where room temperature conditions exist, these lifeforms would be airborne although this theory is thought to be highly speculative.


The Galilean Moons
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Jupiter's Magnetic Field
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Jupiter's Magnetic Field
A magnetic field is created by electricity generated in the core of a planet or other body, forming a magnetic force which surrounds the object. When charged particles from the sun interact with the field a magnetosphere is formed. Earth’s magnetosphere extends tens of thousands of kilometers into space and is extremely important to our planet, if it didn’t exist charged particles from the sun would strip away most of our atmosphere.

What makes Jupiter’s magnetosphere stand out is the enormity of its power and size, it is by far the largest entity in the solar system. If it were visible it would be many times larger in the night sky than the moon. It is so enormous it reaches the outer orbit of Saturn 450 million miles away (724 million km). It creates 10 million amps of electricity which strips away 1000 kilograms of material from one of its nearest moons, Io, every second. Jupiter’s magnetic field captures solar winds from the sun creating one of the most powerful radiation environments in the solar system, a human exposed to these levels of radiation would die within minutes.

When charged particles from the sun get funnelled down its magnetic field and hit the upper atmosphere Aurora are created, such as the ones seen at the North and South poles on Earth, only on Jupiter they are a thousand times more powerful. Radio signals are also created from Jupiter’s magnetosphere which can be picked up with ordinary AM radios on Earth.


Images and Video
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Aurora at Jupiter's Pole
aurora at jupiter's pole
Voyager 1 approaching Jupiter
Jupiter with Io in foreground
Jupiter with Io


Future and Past Missions to Jupiter
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10.
Europa Jupiter System Mission
Europa Jupiter System Mission Launch: 2020
Agency: NASA/ESA
A joint venture by NASA and the ESA (Europe) will study the Jovain System using two separate spacecraft. They will map Jupiter's atmosphere and magnetic field as well as studying its interactions with the Galilean Moons.



9.
Juno
juno Launch: August 2011
Arrival: August 2016
Agency: NASA
Will survey Jupiter from polar orbit, studying the planet's interior. Will determine the amount of global water and ammonia present in the atmosphere and whether Jupiter has an ice rock core.


8.
New Horizons
new horizons Launch: January 2006
Arrival: January 2007
Agency: NASA
Observed Jupiter over 5 months in early 2007 on its way to Pluto.


7.
Cassini-Huygens
cassini-huygens Launch: October 1997
Arrival: December 2000
Agency: NASA/ESA (Europe)
Captured images of Jupiter and its moons on a flyby on its way to Saturn.





6.
Ulysses
ulysses Launch: October 1990
Arrival: February 1992
Agency: NASA
Studied Jupiter's strong magnetic field and radiation levels on its way to the Sun.



5.
Galileo
galileo Launch: October 1989
Arrival: December 1995
Agency: NASA
Galileo was the first spacecraft to deploy a probe into an outer planet’s atmosphere. When the probe plunged into Jupiter's clouds it sent back information about temperature, wind speeds and pressure before finally succumbing to the intense pressure. Galileo also studied Jupiter's moons and made many discoveries before being deliberately destroyed by sending it on a collision course with the gas giant, this was done in order to avoid any possibility of the spacecraft contaminating Europa’s salty ocean.

4.
Voyager 2
Voyager 2 Launch: August 1977
Arrival: April 1979
Agency: NASA
As part of its "Grand Tour" of the solar system Voyager 2 took 18,000 images of the planet during its flyby and discovered 3 new moons.

3.
Voyager 1
Voyager 1 Launch: September 1977
Arrival: August 1979
Agency: NASA
Took more than 18,000 images of the planet and its moons during its fly by.



2.
Pioneer 11
Pioneer 11 Launch: April 1973
Arrival: December 1974
Agency: NASA
The second spacecraft to explore the outer solar system, it flew within 34,000 km (21,000 miles) of Jupiter's clouds. Pioneer 11 studied the planet's magnetic field, atmosphere and took pictures of Jupiter and its moons. Instruments were shut down on Pioneer 11 in September 1995.


1.
Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 Launch: March 1972
Arrival: December 1973
Agency: NASA
The first spacecraft to explore the outer solar system, it flew within 200,000 km (124,000 miles) of Jupiter's cloud tops. Pioneer 10 detected the tremendous radiation levels as it passed the gas giant. Contact was lost in April 2001 as the spacecraft headed out of the solar system in the general direction of a red star called Aldebaran.


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