Overview
Jupiter is by far the largest planet in the Solar System. It is so big NASA calls it “Twice as massive as all the other planets combined”. This puts it into perspective how massive Jupiter is and explains why it is named after the Roman king of the gods himself.
Classification
Jupiter is not like any terrestrial planet. It is a gas giant. Gas giants are mostly made up of gas. They may or may not have an actual core. These planets are huge in size.
Size
It is 11 times wider than Earth. About 1300 Earths can fit inside Jupiter. Jupiter has a radius of 43,440.7 miles. This is one huge planet.
Rotation
One day is 10 Earth hours. Whereas one year is 4,333 Earth days or almost 12 years on Earth. Jupiter may have shorter days, but it has very long years. This is in contrast to three of the terrestrial planets which have quick years, but longer days.
Position
Jupiter is nearly upright, just tilted 3%. This means there are no extreme seasons.
Jupiter has a relatively normal rotation and orbit with the Sun rising in the east and setting in the west. Jupiter’s orbit is an oval closer to a circler. But between Jupiter and Mars is the asteroid belt made up of space rocks.
It takes 43 minutes for light to travel from the Sun to Jupiter. This is because Jupiter is 484 million miles away from the Sun.
Structure
Jupiter doesn’t really have a core. Instead, a huge electrical field is generated in the core area. The center core might be made of iron and silicate minerals, but it is debated whether Jupiter has a core or not underneath all of the clouds. The temperature of the core area might be as high as 90,032 degrees F.
Jupiter doesn’t really have a surface, because it’s mostly gas and liquid. The atmospheric pressure is so great that the hydrogen is actually liquid. Thus Jupiter has a large ocean that might span close to the center. It could be said that the atmosphere meets the liquid hydrogen mantel
Of all the planets in the solar system, Jupiter has the most mass. This affects how the inner planets, the asteroid belt and even the Kuiper belt and Pluto orbit around the Sun. Because Jupiter is so big, the planet keeps the asteroid belt in place as well as pulls in the outer planets with its gravity. This keeps asteroids and the outer planets from flying out further into space.
The deeper into Jupiter the more pressure and temperature increase. In fact, the gravity on Jupiter is 2.4 times the gravity of Earth.
Atmosphere
Hydrogen makes up 90% of the atmosphere, while helium makes up almost all the remaining 10%. There are trace elements of ammonia, sulfur, methane, and water vapor.
Jupiter’s atmosphere looks like a woven tapestry of colorful cloud bands with spots. There are three cloud layers. The top layer is made out of ammonia ice. The middle layer is probably made out of ammonium hydrosulfide crystals. The lowest layer could actually be made of water ice and vapor. Because of no solid surface, Jupiter’s storms, which are plumes of sulfur and phosphorus gases that rise from the interior of the planet, can go on for years. The storms reach wind speeds of 335 miles an hour. The iconic Great Red Spot is twice as wide as Earth. It has been storming for over 300 years of recorded human history. Recently a Little Red Spot has developed when three storms formed. It is half the size of the Great Red Spot.
Moons and Rings
Jupiter has 79 moons. Of the 79, 4 are large moons. These are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Jupiter’s moons are named after the Roman king of the gods many lovers. Because Jupiter is so big, it has the gravity to keep its many moons from flying away.
Jupiter also 3 faint dust rings, but they are nothing compared to Saturn’s rings. Flat in nature, the first one is 20 miles thick and over 4,000 miles wide. The inner ring shaped like a halo is 12000 miles thick. Both are made up of small dark particles. The third ring is basically transparent.
Fun Facts
Because of the immense gravity and pressure on Jupiter, it might rain diamonds.