Jupiter’s name came from the Roman God of mythology.
He is the ultimate God of the Romans,
which explains why the largest planet in our Solar System is named after him. In Roman mythology,
Jupiter was said to be the son of Saturn. He was also the brother of Pluto and Neptune. Jupiter was
married to Juno; however, he had affairs with numerous other women, which he had children with.
The planet’s four largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) were all named after Jupiter’s
many lovers.
. Jupiter Is Massive:
It’s no secret that Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. But this description
really doesn’t do it justice. For one, the mass of Jupiter is 318 times as massive as the
Earth. In fact, Jupiter is 2.5 times more massive than all of the other planets in the Solar
System combined.
Jupiter Cannot Become A Star:
Astronomers call Jupiter a failed star, but that’s not really an appropriate description. While it is true that,
like a star, Jupiter is rich in hydrogen and helium, Jupiter does not have nearly enough mass to trigger a
fusion reaction in its core. This is how stars generate energy, by fusing hydrogen atoms together under
extreme heat and pressure to create helium, releasing light and heat in the process.
Jupiter Is The Fastest Spinning Planet In The Solar
System:
For all its size and mass, Jupiter sure moves quickly. In fact, with an rotational velocity of 12.6 km/s
(~7.45 m/s) or 45,300 km/h (28,148 mph), the planet only takes about 10 hours to complete a full rotation
on its axis. And because it’s spinning so rapidly, the planet has flattened out at the poles a little and is
bulging at its equator.
The Clouds On Jupiter Are Only 50 km Thick:
That’s right, all those beautiful whirling clouds and storms you see on Jupiter are only about 50 km thick.
They’re made of ammonia crystals broken up into two different cloud decks. The darker material is
thought to be compounds brought up from deeper inside Jupiter, and then change color when they
reacted with sunlight. But below those clouds, it’s just hydrogen and helium, all the way down.
The Great Red Spot Has Been Around For A Long
Time:
The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is one of its most familiar features. This persistent anticyclonic storm,
which is located south of its equator, measures between 24,000 km in diameter and 12–14,000 km in
height. As such, it is large enough to contain two or three planets the size of Earth’s diameter. And the
spot has been around for at least 350 years, since it was spotted as far back as the 17th century.
The Great Red Spot was first identified in 1665 by Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini. By the 20th
century, astronomers began to theorize that it was a storm, one which was created by Jupiter’s turbulent
and fast-moving atmosphere. These theories were confirmed by the Voyager 1 mission, which observed
the Giant Red Spot up close in March of 1979 during its flyby of the planet.
Jupiter Has Rings:
When people think of ring systems, Saturn naturally comes to mind. But in truth, both Uranus and Jupiter
have ring systems of their own. Jupiter’s were the third set to be discovered (after the other two), due to
the fact that they are particularly faint. Jupiter’s rings consist of three main segments – an inner torus of
particles known as the halo, a relatively bright main ring, and an outer gossamer ring.
Jupiter’s Magnetic Field Is 14 Times Stronger Than
Earth’s:
Compasses would really work on Jupiter. That’s because it has the strongest magnetic field in the Solar
System. Astronomers think the magnetic field is generated by the eddy currents – i.e. swirling movements
of conducting materials – within the liquid metallic hydrogen core. This magnetic field traps particles of
sulfur dioxide from Io’s volcanic eruptions, which producing sulfur and oxygen ions. Together with
hydrogen ions originating from the atmosphere of Jupiter, these form a plasma sheet in Jupiter’s
equatorial plane.
Jupiter Has 67 Moons:
As of the penning of this article, Jupiter has a 67 confirmed and named satellites. However, it is estimated
that the planet has over 200 natural satellites orbiting it. Almost all of them are less than 10 kilometers in
diameter, and were only discovered after 1975, when the first spacecraft (Pioneer 10) arrived at Jupiter.
However, it also has four major moons, which are collectively known as the Galilean Moons (after their
discovered Galileo Galilei). These are, in order of distance from Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede,
and Callisto. These moons are some of the largest in the Solar System, with Ganymede being the largest,
measuring 5262 km in diameter.
Jupiter Has Been Visited 7 Times By Spacecraft:
Jupiter was first visited by NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft in December 1973, and then Pioneer 11 in
December 1974. Then came the Voyager 1 and 2 flybys, both of which happened in 1979. This was
followed by a long break until Ulysses arrived in February 1992, followed by the Galileo space probe in
1995. Then Cassini made a flyby in 2000, on its way to Saturn. And finally, NASA’s New
Horizons spacecraft made its flyby in 2007. This was the last mission to fly past Jupiter, but it surely won’t
be the last.
You Can See Jupiter With Your Own Eyes:
Jupiter is the third brightest object in the Solar System, after Venus and the Moon. Chances are, you saw
Jupiter in the sky, and had no idea that’s what you were seeing. And here at Universe Today, we are in
the habit of letting readers know when the best opportunities for spotting Jupiter in the night sky are.
Chances are, if you see a really bright star high in the sky, then you’re looking at Jupiter. Get your hands
on a pair of binoculars, and if you know someone with a telescope, that’s even better. Using even modest
magnification, you might even spot small specks of light orbiting it, which are its Galilean Moons. Just
think, you’ll be seeing precisely what Galileo did when he gazed at the planet in 1610.
