JUPITER
Jupiter is a giant among the planets. All the others could fit into it room to spare, and it could swallow more than 1,300 bodies the size of Earth. Jupiter is a gassy planet, made up mainly of hydrogen. Its stormy atmosphere is full of clouds. Jupiter travels through space with a large family of moons, some as big as planet.
What is Jupiter made of?
Jupiter is a great ball of gas and liquid gas. Its atmosphere is more than 1,000 kilometres deep and is made up of mainly of hydrogen, with some helium. It is full of ice, ammonia and ammonium compounds. At the bottom of the atmosphere the great pressure turns the hydrogen into a liquid. Deeper down, rapidly increasing pressure turns the hydrogen into a kind of liquid metal. Right at the centre, there is a small core of rock.
How many moons does Jupiter have?
Jupiter has at least 16 moons. We can see the four biggest with binoculars. The Italian astronomer Galileo discovered them in 1610, so they are known as Galilean moons. In order of distance from Jupiter, they are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. With a diameter of 5,262 kilometres, Ganymede is the largest of Jupiter’s moons and, at roughly the same size as planet Mercury, is the biggest moon in the Solar System. The smallest of Jupiter’s moons, Leda, is about 15 kilometres across.
What’s special about Io?
Io has been nicknamed the ‘pizza moon’ because it is so colourful. It is a very unusual moon because it has active volcanoes on it. These pour out liquid sulphur, which is a rich yellow-orange, giving Io its brilliant and varies colours. The Voyager 1 probe discovered Io’s volcanoes when it flew past Jupiter in 1979.
What is the Great Red Spot?
The most prominent feature on Jupiter’s surface is a large red oval region called the Great Red Spot. Astronomers did not know what it was until space probes looked at it is a gigantic swirling storm, rather like a huge hurricane on Earth. It measures about 40,000 kilometres across – three times the size of Earth.
Which probes have visited Jupiter?
Pioneer 10 flew past Jupiter in 1973 and took the first close-up photographs of its colourful atmosphere. Pioneer 11 followed the next year, and travelled on to Saturn. Voyagers 1 and 2 flew past in 1979, sending back astounding pictures and information. In 1995, the Galileo probe went into orbit round Jupiter after dropping a probe into its atmosphere.
JUPITER DATA
Diameter at equator : 142,800 km
Average distance from Sun : 778 million km
Minimum distance from Earth : 590 million km
Turns on axis : 9 hours 50 minutes
Circles Sun : 11.9 Earth-years
Temperature at cloud tops : -150°C
Satellites : 16 known
Jupiter is a giant among the planets. All the others could fit into it room to spare, and it could swallow more than 1,300 bodies the size of Earth. Jupiter is a gassy planet, made up mainly of hydrogen. Its stormy atmosphere is full of clouds. Jupiter travels through space with a large family of moons, some as big as planet.
What is Jupiter made of?
Jupiter is a great ball of gas and liquid gas. Its atmosphere is more than 1,000 kilometres deep and is made up of mainly of hydrogen, with some helium. It is full of ice, ammonia and ammonium compounds. At the bottom of the atmosphere the great pressure turns the hydrogen into a liquid. Deeper down, rapidly increasing pressure turns the hydrogen into a kind of liquid metal. Right at the centre, there is a small core of rock.
How many moons does Jupiter have?
Jupiter has at least 16 moons. We can see the four biggest with binoculars. The Italian astronomer Galileo discovered them in 1610, so they are known as Galilean moons. In order of distance from Jupiter, they are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. With a diameter of 5,262 kilometres, Ganymede is the largest of Jupiter’s moons and, at roughly the same size as planet Mercury, is the biggest moon in the Solar System. The smallest of Jupiter’s moons, Leda, is about 15 kilometres across.
What’s special about Io?
Io has been nicknamed the ‘pizza moon’ because it is so colourful. It is a very unusual moon because it has active volcanoes on it. These pour out liquid sulphur, which is a rich yellow-orange, giving Io its brilliant and varies colours. The Voyager 1 probe discovered Io’s volcanoes when it flew past Jupiter in 1979.
What is the Great Red Spot?
The most prominent feature on Jupiter’s surface is a large red oval region called the Great Red Spot. Astronomers did not know what it was until space probes looked at it is a gigantic swirling storm, rather like a huge hurricane on Earth. It measures about 40,000 kilometres across – three times the size of Earth.
Which probes have visited Jupiter?
Pioneer 10 flew past Jupiter in 1973 and took the first close-up photographs of its colourful atmosphere. Pioneer 11 followed the next year, and travelled on to Saturn. Voyagers 1 and 2 flew past in 1979, sending back astounding pictures and information. In 1995, the Galileo probe went into orbit round Jupiter after dropping a probe into its atmosphere.
JUPITER DATA
Diameter at equator : 142,800 km
Average distance from Sun : 778 million km
Minimum distance from Earth : 590 million km
Turns on axis : 9 hours 50 minutes
Circles Sun : 11.9 Earth-years
Temperature at cloud tops : -150°C
Satellites : 16 known
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