All about Jupiter

Overview of Jupiter

• Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, is a gas giant.
• Over 1,300 Earths could fit inside Jupiter.
• Named after the king of the ancient Roman gods.
• The atmosphere mainly consists of hydrogen and helium, similar to the sun.
• It features a very thick atmosphere.
• The planet is covered in thick red, brown, yellow, and white clouds, creating a striped appearance.
• Sunlight takes 43 minutes to reach Jupiter from the Sun.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Winds

• The Great Red Spot is a centuries-old storm larger than Earth.
• Jupiter experiences very high winds, exceeding 400 mph, surpassing the speed of hurricanes and tornadoes.
• About 3 1/2 Earths could fit across this storm.

Jupiter's Rings

• Jupiter possesses three thin rings, unlike Saturn's.
• These rings are difficult to observe.
• Voyager 1 discovered the rings in 1979.
• The rings primarily comprise tiny dust particles.
  • Halo: A faint, wide, doughnut-shaped ring closest to Jupiter
  • Main Ring: Extends from the halo ring, with the moons Adrastea and Metis orbiting within, believed to be the dust source.
  • Gossamer Rings: Very faint and wide, made of microscopic debris from Amalthea and Thebe, extending beyond Amalthea's orbit.

Rotation, Orbit, and Gravity

• Jupiter has the fastest rotation of any planet.
• A rotation takes only about 10 hours.
• Jupiter takes 12 Earth years to orbit the sun, thus one year on Jupiter is equivalent to 12 Earth years.
• Jupiter is very cold and has a stronger gravitational pull compared to Earth.
• A 100-pound person on Earth would weigh 240 pounds on Jupiter.

Jupiter's Major Moons

• Jupiter has four major moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa.
  • Ganymede: Jupiter's largest moon is also the solar system's largest and bigger than Mercury and Pluto.
  • Callisto: Heavily cratered surface.
  • Io: Volcanically active moon producing sulfur gases, giving it a yellow-orange surface.
  • Europa: Covered in water ice with a possible ocean or slushy ice beneath, potentially holding twice as much water as Earth.

Jupiter Exploration

• NASA astronomers have studied Jupiter using Earth-based telescopes and orbiting telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope.
• Several NASA spacecraft explored Jupiter from 1979 to 2007, and beyond.
  • Pioneer 10: The first spacecraft to visit the outer planets, launched in March 1972, made its closest approach to Jupiter on December 4, 1973, sending its last signal in January 2003 from 7.6 billion miles away.
  • Pioneer 11: Sister spacecraft to Pioneer 10, flew closer to Jupiter in 1974 en route to Saturn and studied Saturn's rings.
  • Voyager 1: Discovered a thin ring, Thebe and Metis, and active volcanoes on Io during its Jupiter flyby in March 1979.
  • Voyager 2: The sole spacecraft to study all four giant planets, it discovered Jupiter's 14th moon.
  • Galileo: The first spacecraft to orbit an outer planet, launching in 1989 and orbiting Jupiter for around eight years to study and send a probe into the atmosphere of Jupiter, before being destroyed to protect one of its key discoveries - water on Europa.
  • Cassini: Explored the Jupiter system for six months, from October 2000 to March 2001, while en route to Saturn, using Jupiter's gravity for a slingshot effect.
  • Juno: Launched in 2011 and arrived in 2016, Juno orbits Jupiter to study its formation, origin, evolution, moons, rings, and environment until September 2025
    • Juno is named after Jupiter's wife, who could see through his tricks and clouds.
  • Europa Clipper: Launched in October 2024 and expected to reach Jupiter in 2030, it will conduct multiple flybys of Jupiter's moon Europa to assess its habitability.