Jupiter Need-To-Know Things

0 0 Tuesday, July 5, 2016 Edit this post

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter is a gas giant, along with Saturn, with the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptun

1. The Biggest Planet
If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, the Earth would be the size of a nickel and Jupiter would be about as big as a basketball. About 1,300 Earths could fit inside Jupiter.

2. Fifth in Line
Jupiter orbits our sun, a star. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun at a distance of about 484 million miles (778 million km) or 5.2 Astronomical Units (AU). Earth is one AU from the sun.

3. Short Day / Long Year
One day on Jupiter takes about 10 hours (the time it takes for Jupiter to rotate or spin once). Jupiter makes a complete orbit around the sun (a year in Jovian time) in about 12 Earth years (4,333 Earth days).

4. What's Inside?
Jupiter is a gas-giant planet and therefore does not have a solid surface. Jupiter may have a solid, inner core about the size of Earth.

5. Atmosphere
Jupiter's atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H₂) and helium (He).

Read About:Juno probe successfully enters Jupiter's orbit after 'amazing' mission

6. Many Moons
Jupiter has 53 known moons, with an additional 14 moons awaiting confirmation of their discovery -- that is a total of 67 moons.

7. Ringed World
Jupiter has a faint ring system that was discovered in 1979 by the Voyager 1 mission. All four giant planets in our solar system have ring systems.

8. Exploring Jupiter
Many missions have visited Jupiter and its system of moons. The Juno mission is arrived at Jupiter in June 2016.

9. Ingredients for Life?
Jupiter cannot support life as we know it. However, some of Jupiter's moons have oceans underneath their crusts that might support life.

10. Did You Know?
Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a gigantic storm (about the size of Earth) that has been raging for hundreds of years.