Jupiter: The Gas Giant

Overview

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and is the largest planet our solar system. Jupiter's stripes and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.

Description

Jupiter is formed around 4.5 billion years ago with a radius of 43,440.7 miles (69,911 kilometers). From an average distance of 484 million miles (778 million kilometers), Jupiter is 5.2 astronomical units away from the Sun*. It takes about 43 minutes for light from the Sun to reach Jupiter.

Potential for Life:
Jupiter's environment is probably too extreme and volatile for living orgaisms to adapt to. But some of Jupiter's many moons might provide a habitable environment for life. One of the moons is Europa - there is evidence that there is an ocean beneath the icy crust, where life could possibly be supported.

Orbit and Rotation:
Jupiter has the shortest day in the solar system. A day on Jupiter takes only about 10 hours, and completes an orbit around the Sun in about 12 Earth years. Jupiter's axis of rotation is tilted by just 3 degrees and doesn't experience seasons as extreme as other plantes do.

Structure:
Jupiter is composed of mostly hydrogen and helium - similar to that of the Sun. Jupiter has a core that is either made of solid material or a thick, super-hot and dense soup. The core is mostly made of iron and silicate minerals (similar to quartz).

Temperatures:
The temperature on Jupiter's clouds is about minus 145 degrees Celsius (minus 234 degrees Fahrenheit). And the core's temperature may be about 24,000 degrees Celsius (43,000 degrees Fahrenheit) - hotter than the surface of the Sun!

Surface:
As a gas giant, Jupiter doesn't have a true surface. The planet is mostly made of swirling gases or liquids.

Atmosphere:
Jupiter likely has three distinct cloud layers in its "skies" made of ammonia ice, ammonium hydrosulfide crystals, water ice and vapour. With no solid surface to slow them down, Jupiter's spots can presists for many years. One of them, the Great Red Spot has been observed on the giant planet for more than 300 years.

Magetosphere:
Jupiter's magnetic field is shaped as a teardrop. It balloons 600,000 to 2 million miles (1 to 3 million kilometers) toward the Sun (seven to 21 times the diameter of Jupiter itself) and tapers into a tadpole-shaped tail extending more than 600 million miles (1 billion kilometers) behind Jupiter. The magetic field is 16 to 54 times more powerful compared to that of Earth's. Jupiter's magnetosphere also causes some of the solar system's most spectacular aurorae at the planet's poles.

Moons:
Jupiter has four large moons and many smaller ones. With 53 confirmed moons and 26 more awaiting confirmation. Jupiter's four largest moons – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto – were first observed by the astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610.

Fun Facts!

• All the planets (excluding Jupiter) could fit inside of Jupiter, twice!
• Jupiter has the same ingredients as a star, but it did not grow massive enough to ignite.
• Jupiter has a faint ring system.
• Jupiter is named after the Roman king of gods, Jupiter.

Footnotes:

*One astronomical unit (abbreviated as AU), is the distance from the Sun to Earth.