Jupiter
hideJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass slightly less than one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times more massive than all of the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Together, these four planets are sometimes referred to as the Jovian planets.
The planet was known by astronomers of ancient times and was associated with the mythology and religious beliefs of many cultures. The Romans named the planet after the Roman god Jupiter. When viewed from Earth, Jupiter can reach an apparent magnitude of −2.8, making it on average the third-brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus. (Mars can briefly exceed Jupiter's brightness at certain points in its orbit.)
Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium; it may also have a rocky core of heavier elements. Because of its rapid rotation, Jupiter's shape is that of an oblate spheroid (it possesses a slight but noticeable bulge around the equator). The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries. A prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope. Surrounding the planet is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere. There are also at least 63 moons, including the four large moons called the Galilean moons that were first discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of these moons, has a diameter greater than that of the planet Mercury.
Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft, most notably during the early Pioneer and Voyager flyby missions and later by the Galileo orbiter. The most recent probe to visit Jupiter was the Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft in late February 2007. The probe used the gravity from Jupiter to increase its speed and adjust its trajectory toward Pluto, thereby saving years of travel. Future targets for exploration in the Jovian system include the possible ice-covered liquid ocean on the moon Europa.
For more information about Jupiter, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with jupiter
Unsettled Youth: Spitzer Observes a Chaotic Planetary System
Nov 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Before our planets found their way to the stable orbits they circle in today, they wiggled and jostled about like unsettled children. Now, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has found a young ...
Fantastic Voyage
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 02, 2009 |
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By travelling to the outer solar system, the two Voyager spacecraft allowed us to see amazing details of far-distant planets and moons.
Galileo's Jupiter Journey Began Two Decades Ago
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Galileo spacecraft began what would become a 14-year odyssey of exploration 20 years ago this Sunday, Oct. 18. Galileo was humanity's first emissary to orbit a planet in the outer solar ...
Jupiter's Moon Europa Has Enough Oxygen For Life
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 16, 2009 |
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New research suggests that there is plenty of oxygen available in the subsurface ocean of Europa to support oxygen-based metabolic processes for life similar to that on Earth. In fact, there may be enough ...
'Inverse Energy Cascade' May Energize Jupiter's Jet Streams
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Jupiter's intense and persistent jet streams could be triggered by small-scale energy events, a planetary sciences graduate student reports.
Ganymede makes big impression on Jupiter's auroral lightshows (w/ Video)
Sep 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Studies of features in Jupiter’s spectacular and rapidly changing aurorae have given new insights into the complex electromagnetic interactions between the giant planet and two of its innermost ...
Scientists complete first geological global map of Jupiter's satellite Ganymede
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 16, 2009 |
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Scientists have assembled the first global geological map of the Solar System’s largest moon - and in doing so have gathered new evidence into the formation of the large, icy satellite.
Craters on Vesta and Ceres Could Hold Key to Jupiter's Age
Sep 15, 2009 |
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Crater patterns on Vesta and Ceres could help pinpoint when Jupiter began to form during the evolution of the early solar system.
Jupiter had temporary moon for 12 years
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 14, 2009 |
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Comet 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu was captured as a temporary moon of Jupiter in the mid-20th century and remained trapped in an irregular orbit for about twelve years.
Huge new planet tells of game of planetary billiards
Aug 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists has found a new planet which orbits the wrong way around its host star. The planet, named WASP-17, and orbiting a star 1000 light years away, was found by the UK's WASP ...
Expanding Spot on Venus Puzzles Astronomers
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Aug 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The expanding spot discovered on Venus last month may not have garnered as much attention as the meteor impact with Jupiter, but its cause is certainly more puzzling. ...
What Hit Jupiter?
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Aug 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It began with a furrowed brow, a moment of puzzlement, quickly dismissed.
Jupiter, solar system's 'big bully,' takes a punch
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers have been turning the world's most powerful telescopes toward Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet, ever since Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley discovered a new ...
Hubble captures rare Jupiter collision
Jul 25, 2009 |
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For the past several days the world's largest telescopes have been trained on Jupiter. Not to miss the potentially new science in the unfolding drama 580 million kilometres away, Matt Mountain, director of ...
Surprise Collision on Jupiter Captured by Gemini Telescope
Jul 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Jupiter is sporting a glowing bruise after getting unexpectedly whacked by a small solar system object, according to astronomers using the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i. A ...
