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Jupiter is the 5th planet from the sun. It is also the
biggest planet in the solar system. Jupiter has rings that are only
visible through a telescope. It has at least 16 moons, and one moon is
larger than the planet mercury.
Jupiter has been observed
for thousands of years. It was thought to be the King of the gods in
cultures. The Babylonians called it Mandult. The Romans called it
Jupiter, the name we use for it today.
The Great astronomer
Copernicus learned many things about Jupiter. He found it takes about 12
Earth years for Jupiter to orbit the Earth. He also discovered that
Jupiter is about 500,000,000 miles from earth.
After the first telescope
the astronomer Galileo made a big discovery. He saw four little things
near Jupiter. He watched them for many nights. He found that they were
orbiting Jupiter.
Jupiter still has many
mysteries. No one knows what is beneath its atmosphere. How did the
great Red Spot form? In the future we will send probes and discover
these questions.
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Quick
Facts
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Length of year: |
12
Earth years |
| Length
of day: |
10
Earth hours |
| Diameter: |
88,700miles |
| Moons: |
at least 16
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| Distance
from Sun: |
484
million miles |
| Average
speed while orbiting the Sun: |
8miles per second |
| high
temperature: |
unknown
but is very hot under the clouds |
| Low
temperature: |
-235°F
above clouds |
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