Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Its mass is more than twice of all the planets add up together. It has 16 satellites and an almost invisible ring. Jupiter's rotational period is the shortest of all planets. Its atmosphere is very deep, almost comprising the whole planet. It is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Pressure is so great at the depths of Jupiter that the hydrogen atoms are broken up and the electrons are freed so that the resulting atoms consist of bare protons. Hydrogen at this state becomes metallic. The Great Red Spot is made up of different colors such as red, dark red and blue. It is a complex storm moving in anti-clockwise direction. At the outer part of the spot, material rotate in a cycle of four to six days, near the center, motions are small and they rotate in a random direction. Jupiter's ring Gossamer looks like one single ring but it is discovered that it is really two rings. These rings are composed of dust particles which is microscopic in size. One ring is embeded within another. ...back

Some statistics: Mass (kg): 1.90x1027 Diameter (km): 142984 Average Density (kg/m3): 1314 Escape Velocity (m/sec): 59500 Rotation Period (Earth days): 9.8 Tilt of Axis (o): 3.08 Orbit inclination (o): 1.3 Average Surface Temperature (oF): -250 Atmospheric Components: 90% Hydrogen, 10% Helium, a small amount of methane Number of Satellites: 16 (Adrastea, Amalthea, Ananke, Callisto, Carme, Elara, Europa, Ganymede, Himalia, Io, Leda, Lysithea, Metis, Pasiphae, Sinope, Thebe) Number of Rings: 2 (Gossamer) ...back

Pictures:  Montage of Jupiter and the Galilean satellites, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.  Three-color filter image of Jupiter and Ganymede.  Image of Jupiter taken by HST.  Three-color filter image of Jupiter's best known feature, the Great Red Spot. (Voyager 1)  Montage of images of Jupiter's Great Red Spot taken by HST between 1992 and 1999.  Jupiter's Great Red Spot as imaged by HST. ...back

Jupiter's Satellites Moon Radius(km) Mass(kg) Distance(km) Discoverer Date Adrastea 12.5x10x7.5 1.91e+16 128,971 Jewitt-Danielson 1979 Amalthea 135x84x75 7.17e+18 181,300 E. Barnard 1892 Ananke 15 3.82e+16 21,200,000 S. Nicholson 1951 Callisto 2,400 1.08e+23 1,883,000 Marius-Galileo 1610 Carme 20 9.56e+16 22,600,000 S. Nicholson 1938 Elara 38 7.77e+17 11,737,000 C. Perrine 1905 Europa 1,569 4.80e+22 670,900 Marius-Galileo 1610 Ganymede 2,631 1.48e+23 1,070,000 Marius-Galileo 1610 Himalia 93 9.56e+18 11,480,000 C. Perrine 1904 Io 1,815 8.94e+22 421,600 Marius-Galileo 1610 Metis 20 9.56e+16 127,969 S. Synnott 1979 Leda 8 5.68e+15 11,094,000 C. Kowal 1974 Lysithea 18 7.77e+16 11,720,000 S. Nicholson 1938 Pasiphae 25 1.91e+17 23,500,000 P. Melotte 1908 Sinope 18 7.77e+16 23,700,000 S. Nicholson 1914 Thebe 55x45 7.77e+17 221,895 S. Synnott 1979 ...back