Introduction
Jupiter and its moons are almost a Solar System in themselves. The giant gas planet is made up of the same material as the sun, and caught in its gravitational pull are 16 worlds. Furious storms rage continuously on the planet itself. However Jupiter's moons display a puzzling variety of sizes and appearances, and one may even be home to life.
King of planets
Jupiter was named after the king of the Roman gods, and it is nor difficult to see why. Its giant mass could swallow every other planet on the solar system with room to spare. It is larger than 1,300 Earths! It formed from the same cloud of gases as the sun. If it had expanded 40 times more than it did, its core would have ignited into a nuclear furnace, and Jupiter would have become a star.
A stormy planet
Jupiter is a world of perpetual storms. It rotates rapidly, taking a mere ten days to turn. This speed causes the planet to bulge at its centre, encouraging winds of up to 650 km/hr. The most ferocious storm on Jupiter is known as the great red spot. This is a hurricane almost four times the size of Earth. It has been raging continuously for over 300 years. Even the lightening bolts are giant in Jupiter's atmosphere, often up to 10,000 times more powerful than anything on Earth.
Moons
Jupiter has 16 moons that orbits its giant mass like planets. They range from scarred lumps of rocks to volcanically active balls of ice. The photographs below show Jupiter's four biggest and most exciting moons.
Some important facts
1) The dark red bands on Jupiter are called belts, and the lighter bands are called zones. Zones and belts are coloured clouds on the surface of Jupiter.
2) Most of Jupiter's interior is made up of hydrogen. However, the pressure inside the planet is so great that the gas turns into a liquid. Further in it is squeezed so tightly that it behaves like a metal.
3) Jupiter's atmosphere would prove lethal to any visiting humans. It contains methane and ammonia, which are poisonous.
4) It is impossible for a human to set foot on the gassy surface of Jupiter. However, in 1995 the galileo probe dropped a smaller probe into the turbulent atmosphere of the gas giant. It took measurements for 57 minutes before it was destroyed by Jupiter's atmospheric pressure.
5) Ganymede is a suitably enormous moon for its parent. It is the biggest moon in the solar system, larger even than the planets Mercury and Pluto.
6) Callisto has more scars than any other body in the solar system. The meteor craters that completel cover its surface are billions of years old.
7) Io is caught in the gravitational tug-of-war between Jupiter and Europa. The conflicting pressures heat up the moon making it he most volcanically active in our system.
8) Europa is completely covered by a sheet of ice. Volcanic activity may have created a liquid ocean underneath its sheet, which may even contain primitive life.
Facts and Figures
Diameter : 142,984km
Distance from sun : 779 million km
Surface temperature : -121oC (-186oF)
Surface gravity : 1.36 x Earth
Length of orbit : 4,333 Earth days
Length of day : 10 Earth hours
Mass : 317.9 x Earth
Density(water=1) : 1.33
Number of moons : 16
Number of rings : 3
Jupiter and its moons are almost a Solar System in themselves. The giant gas planet is made up of the same material as the sun, and caught in its gravitational pull are 16 worlds. Furious storms rage continuously on the planet itself. However Jupiter's moons display a puzzling variety of sizes and appearances, and one may even be home to life.
King of planets
Jupiter was named after the king of the Roman gods, and it is nor difficult to see why. Its giant mass could swallow every other planet on the solar system with room to spare. It is larger than 1,300 Earths! It formed from the same cloud of gases as the sun. If it had expanded 40 times more than it did, its core would have ignited into a nuclear furnace, and Jupiter would have become a star.
A stormy planet
Jupiter is a world of perpetual storms. It rotates rapidly, taking a mere ten days to turn. This speed causes the planet to bulge at its centre, encouraging winds of up to 650 km/hr. The most ferocious storm on Jupiter is known as the great red spot. This is a hurricane almost four times the size of Earth. It has been raging continuously for over 300 years. Even the lightening bolts are giant in Jupiter's atmosphere, often up to 10,000 times more powerful than anything on Earth.
Moons
Jupiter has 16 moons that orbits its giant mass like planets. They range from scarred lumps of rocks to volcanically active balls of ice. The photographs below show Jupiter's four biggest and most exciting moons.
Some important facts
1) The dark red bands on Jupiter are called belts, and the lighter bands are called zones. Zones and belts are coloured clouds on the surface of Jupiter.
2) Most of Jupiter's interior is made up of hydrogen. However, the pressure inside the planet is so great that the gas turns into a liquid. Further in it is squeezed so tightly that it behaves like a metal.
3) Jupiter's atmosphere would prove lethal to any visiting humans. It contains methane and ammonia, which are poisonous.
4) It is impossible for a human to set foot on the gassy surface of Jupiter. However, in 1995 the galileo probe dropped a smaller probe into the turbulent atmosphere of the gas giant. It took measurements for 57 minutes before it was destroyed by Jupiter's atmospheric pressure.
5) Ganymede is a suitably enormous moon for its parent. It is the biggest moon in the solar system, larger even than the planets Mercury and Pluto.
6) Callisto has more scars than any other body in the solar system. The meteor craters that completel cover its surface are billions of years old.
7) Io is caught in the gravitational tug-of-war between Jupiter and Europa. The conflicting pressures heat up the moon making it he most volcanically active in our system.
8) Europa is completely covered by a sheet of ice. Volcanic activity may have created a liquid ocean underneath its sheet, which may even contain primitive life.
Facts and Figures
Diameter : 142,984km
Distance from sun : 779 million km
Surface temperature : -121oC (-186oF)
Surface gravity : 1.36 x Earth
Length of orbit : 4,333 Earth days
Length of day : 10 Earth hours
Mass : 317.9 x Earth
Density(water=1) : 1.33
Number of moons : 16
Number of rings : 3
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