Jupiter, the most massive planet of the solar system and the fifth in distance from the Sun. It is one of the brightest objects in the night sky; only the Moon, Venus, and sometimes Mars are more brilliant. Jupiter is designated by the symbol ♃.
When ancient astronomers named the planet Jupiter for the Roman ruler of the gods and heavens (also known as Jove), they had no idea of the planet’s true dimensions, but the name is appropriate, for Jupiter is larger than all the other planets combined. It takes nearly 12 Earth years to orbit the Sun, and it rotates once about every 10 hours, more than twice as fast as Earth; its colourful cloud bands can be seen with even a small telescope. It has a narrow system of rings and 79 known moons, one larger than the planet Mercury and three larger than Earth’s Moon. Some astronomers speculate that Jupiter’s moon Europa may be hiding an ocean of warm water—and possibly even some kind of life—beneath an icy crust.
Jupiter has an internal heat source; it emits more energy than it receives from the Sun. The pressure in its deep interior is so high that the hydrogen there exists in a fluid metallic state. This giant has the strongest magnetic field of any planet, with a magnetosphere so large that, if it could be seen from Earth, its apparent diameter would exceed that of the Moon. Jupiter’s system is also the source of intense bursts of radio noise, at some frequencies occasionally radiating more energy than the Sun. Despite all its superlatives, however, Jupiter is made almost entirely of only two elements, hydrogen and helium, and its mean density is not much more than the density of water
The composition of Jupiter is similar to that of the Sun – mostly hydrogen and helium. Deep in the atmosphere, pressure and temperature increase, compressing the hydrogen gas into a liquid. This gives Jupiter the largest ocean in the solar system – an ocean made of hydrogen instead of water. Scientists think that, at depths perhaps halfway to the planet's center, the pressure becomes so great that electrons are squeezed off the hydrogen atoms, making the liquid electrically conducting like metal.
Jupiter's fast rotation is thought to drive electrical currents in this region, generating the planet's powerful magnetic field. It is still unclear if deeper down, Jupiter has a central core of solid material or if it may be a thick, super-hot and dense soup. It could be up to 90,032 degrees Fahrenheit (50,000 degrees Celsius) down there, made mostly of iron and silicate minerals (similar to quartz).
As a gas giant, Jupiter doesn’t have a true surface. The planet is mostly swirling gases and liquids. While a spacecraft would have nowhere to land on Jupiter, it wouldn’t be able to fly through unscathed either. The extreme pressures and temperatures deep inside the planet crush, melt, and vaporize spacecraft trying to fly into the planet.
Discovered in 1979 by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, Jupiter's rings were a surprise, as they are composed of small, dark particles and are difficult to see except when backlit by the Sun. Data from the Galileo spacecraft indicate that Jupiter's ring system may be formed by dust kicked up as interplanetary meteoroids smash into the giant planet's small innermost moons.
One of the most obvious facts about the gas giant Jupiter is its immense size. With a mean radius of 69,911 ± 6 km (43441 mi) and a mass of 1.8986 × 1027 kg, Jupiter is almost 11 times the size of Earth, and just under 318 times Earth’s massive. But this “go big or go home” attitude extends far beyond the planet’s size.
When it comes to weather patterns, Jupiter is also an exercise in extremes. The planet experiences storms that can grow to thousands of kilometers in diameter in the space of a few hours. The planet also experiences windstorms, lightning, and auroras in some areas. In fact, the weather on Jupiter is so extreme that it can be seen from space!
As noted already, Jupiter experiences violent storms, which often take the form of zonal jets. In these weather fronts, wind speeds of 100 m/s (360 km/h) are common. But wind storms on the mighty planet can reach as high as 620 kph (385 mph). These storms can form within hours and become thousands of kilometers in diameter overnight.
One storm, the Great Red Spot, has been raging since at least the late 1600s – when Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini made the first recorded observation of it. The storm has been shrinking and expanding throughout its history; but in 2012, it was suggested that the Giant Red Spot might eventually disappear.
This storm is one of the best known features in the Solar System. It is located 22° south of the equator and reaching sizes of up to 40,000 km across, it is larger in diameter than Earth. The storm rotates in a counter-clockwise motion, making it an anti-cyclonic storm.
It rotates differently than the rest of the atmosphere: sometimes faster and sometimes slower. During its recorded history it has traveled several times around the planet relative to any fixed position below it.
Jupiter also experience weather phenomena that are similar to those of Earth. These lightning storms, which have been detected in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Scientists believe that these may be due to a thin layer of water clouds underlying the ammonia layer.
Like Earth, Jupiter also experiences auroras near its northern and southern poles. But on Jupiter, the auroral activity is much more intense and rarely ever stops. The intense radiation, Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field, and the abundance of material from Io’s volcanoes that react with Jupiter’s ionosphere, create a light show that is truly spectacular.
Jupiter has 79 known moons — the most of any planet in the solar system — and more are expected to be discovered by the Juno spacecraft.
Juno is a most amazing spacecraft.
There are three main moon groups, the first being the four primary Jovian satellites. They were discovered by Galileo on Jan. 7, 1610, with his low-powered telescope.
He named them Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto after the many lovers of the Roman god Jupiter.
The second, called the inner group, is made up of small moons and the third, referred to as the irregular satellites, orbit in distant and eccentric orbits.
Modern spacecraft tell us that these moons are rather large by scale and at least one Jovian moon, Ganymede, is actually larger than the planet Mercury.
If you are looking for a location in the solar system that might harbor some type of life, look no further than Europa.
Scientists tell us that below the ice of Europa, there might be large oceans of liquid, which might support some type of primitive life.
Arizona observers have a great opportunity to see Jupiter.
Look to the morning sky, just before dawn, when the planet is high in the southern sky and easy to see with the naked eye.
You can actually see the four Jovian moons in a pair of binoculars – if you hold them steady – but you can get better views of Jupiter in the telescope.
Three rotation periods, all within a few minutes of each other, have been established.
The two periods called System I (9 hours 50 minutes 30 seconds) and System II (9 hours 55 minutes 41 seconds) are mean values and refer to the speed of rotation at the equator and at higher latitudes, respectively, as exhibited by features observed in the planet’s visible cloud layers. Jupiter has no solid surface; the transition from the gaseous atmosphere to the fluid interior occurs gradually at great depths. Thus the variation in rotation period at different latitudes does not imply that the planet itself rotates with either of these mean velocities.
In fact, the true rotation period of Jupiter is System III (9 hours 55 minutes 29 seconds). This is the period of rotation of Jupiter’s magnetic field, first deduced from Earth-based observations at radio wavelengths (see below Radio emission) and confirmed by direct spacecraft measurements. This period, which has been constant for 30 years of observation, applies to the massive interior of the planet, where the magnetic field is generated.
Jupiter has a revolution period of 11.86 earth years.