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The largest planet known, Jupiter, is largest in mass and size. It is 10 times bigger
than the Earth. It is recognized by its great red spot and the numerous clouds circling the atmosphere. Its organic
chemistry accounts for this. It is known to be a dense planet with a thick atmosphere due to the clouds it has.
The equator of Jupiter bulges due to the quick and rapid rotations. It rotates once every 10 hours.
Since scientists find it hard to look at Jupiter's interior, we can only rely
on theory at what's underneath the surface. The dense clouds make it hard to analyze as well. Even though Jupiter
is large in mass, it is less dense than the Earth. The immense mass keeps the planet in composition. It exerts
a very large gravitational force compressing all the nearby gases around it. Going further into Jupiter, this compression
allows for the gases to change into a liquid. The interior of Jupiter may be 30,000 K making it very hot. As heat
escapes, scientists have noted that it emits infrared light. The additional energy which supplies this is unknown
but convection currents are looked upon.
The atmosphere of Jupiter consists of Wind streams and a spinning vortex. The winds of the northern and western
hemisphere interfere with each other. This causes jet streams which blow in opposite directions. As they rotate
around in different directions, the jet streams circle each other at different points forming vortices. The great
red spot is an example of this. It is a permanent feature of Jupiter's atmosphere. The atmosphere itself mostly
consists of Hydrogen, Helium, and other hydrogen based gases such as methane, ammonia, and water. Due to the magnetic
field, Jupiter is a powerful source of radio emission. An aurora , just like the Earth's, may be seen on Jupiter.
The magnetic belts on the top of of Jupiter create such an effect trapping the particles of the atmosphere. Furthermore,
Jupiter is known to have a ring around it. It is not a very distinct feature, evidence shows that it is still present.
It is not seen as clearly as the rings of Saturn because the rings of Jupiter are made of rock and not icy rock.
Light does not reflect off this rock pattern much, therefore not being as visible to us. The last aspect of Jupiter
comes in its moons. There are known to be four moons which Jupiter possesses. They are very large in comparison
to other moons. The moons themselves are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Europa is the only moon not larger
than our moon. All of them contain craters just like our moon. Io is attracted heavily by its neighboring moon,
Europa. Europa,
however, is the smallest of the moons. Ganymede and Callisto are both similar to our moon's with Ganymede being
more cratered.
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