Full details about Jupiter the largest planet in our solar system

All About Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It looks like a star, but it is never big enough to start burning. It is covered in swirling cloud stripes. It has hurricanes such as the Great Red Spot, which has been going on for centuries. Jupiter is a large gas and has no solid surface, but can have a solid interior the size of the earth. Jupiter also has rings, but they are too tired to see clearly.

Jupiter has a long history of astonishing scientists since 1610 when Galileo Galilei discovered the first moons across the Earth. That discovery changed the way we view the universe.

Fifth in a row from Sun, Jupiter is farther away, the largest planet in the solar system - twice as high as all the other planets combined.

Jupiter's usual lashes and swirls are actually cold, clouds with ammonia air and water, floating in the atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter's icon of the Great Red Spot is the largest hurricane ever to hit the Earth for centuries.

Structure and Surface of Jupiter

Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system.

Jupiter is a gas giant. It is made mostly of hydrogen and helium.

Jupiter has a very thick atmosphere.

Jupiter has rings, but they’re very hard difficult to see.

Time on Jupiter

One day on Jupiter goes by in just 10 hours.

One year on Jupiter is the same as 11.8 Earth years.

Jupiter's neighbors

Jupiter has 79 confirmed moons.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from Sun. That means that Mars and Saturn are Jupiter's neighboring planets.

Quick history of Jupiter

Jupiter has been known since ancient times because it can be seen without the aid of advanced telescopes.

Jupiter has been visited or transmitted by several spacecraft, orbiters and investigators, such as Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, Cassini, New Horizons, and Juno.

10 Interesting Things about Jupiter

1. THE GREAT PLANET

11 Earths could be the size of Jupiter's equator. If Earth were the size of grapes, Jupiter would be the size of a basketball.

2. FIFTH PLANET FROM OUR STAR

Jupiter orbits approximately 484 million miles (778 million miles) or 5.2 Astronomical Units (AU) from our Sun (Earth is one AU from the Sun).

3. SHORT DAY / LONG YEAR

Jupiter orbits once every 10 hours (Jovian day), but it takes about 12 Earth years to complete a single solar cycle (a Jovian year).

JUPITER and IO

4.WHAT'S INSIDE

Jupiter is a giant gas and has no place like Earth. If it has a solid internal core at all, it is probably only about the size of the Earth.

5. WORLDWIDE, THINGS OF LIGHT

Jupiter's atmosphere is composed mostly of hydrogen (H2) and helium (He).

6. LAND GALORE

Jupiter has more than 75 moons.

7. RINGED WORLD

In 1979 the Voyager mission received Jupiter's loose ring system. All four giant planets in our solar system have ring systems.

8. EXPLORING THE JUPITER

Nine spacecraft visited Jupiter. Seven flew in pairs and surrounded the gas giant. Juno, most recently, arrived in Jupiter in 2016.

9. INGREDIENTS FOR LIFE?

Jupiter cannot support life as we know it. But some of the moons of Jupiter have the ocean beneath their crusts that might support life.

10. SUPER STORM OUT

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a gigantic storm that is almost double the size of the earth and has been attacking for over a century.

BIG RED BALL

Did you know?

No rockets are powerful enough to launch a spacecraft into the solar system and beyond. In 1962, scientists calculated how Jupiter used gravity to throw spacecraft into the remotest parts of the solar system. We have been moving forward and very fast ever since.

Pop Culture of Jupiter

The largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter also has a large presence in pop culture, including many movies, TV shows, video games and comedy. Jupiter was a notable place in the fictional show of the Wachowski brothers Jupiter Ascending, while various Jovian moons offer settings for Cloud Atlas, Futurama, Power Rangers, and Halo, among many others. In the Men in Black where Agent J-played by Will Smith mentions that he thought one of the teachers in childhood was from Venus, Agent K played by Tommy Lee Jones - he replies that he was actually one of Jupiter's henchmen.

Kid-Friendly Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. It looks like a star, but it is never big enough to start burning.

Jupiter is covered with swirling clouds. It has hurricanes such as the Great Red Spot, which has been going on for centuries.

Jupiter is a large gas and has no solid surface, but can have a solid interior the size of the earth. Jupiter also has rings, but they are too tired to see clearly.