What are 5 interesting facts about 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 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
Why is Jupiter so big?
Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, gas giant, and subject of the Juno mission, is huge. Huge.. It's so huge, in fact, that it doesn't actually orbit the Sun. Not exactly. With 2.5 times the mass of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, it's big enough that the centre of gravity between Jupiter and the Sun doesn't actually reside inside the Sun – rather, at a point in space ...
What is the internal structure of Jupiter?
Internal Structure: The structure of Jupiter is very unlike that of the Earth. The visible 'surface' of Jupiter is, in fact, the uppermost layers of clouds of methane and ammonia. The interior of Jupiter is made up of a solid core of material similar to that of the Earth, with a diameter of about 24,000 km. Surrounding this, with a diameter of ...
Why is Jupiter a gas planet?
because it is called Gas Giant it is full of gasses like hydrogen, helium, traces of water, ammonia and methane. gas Giant means no rock. for example the little blue planet Earth isn't a gas planet because it has a mattalic core but Jupiter has no mattalic core so you cant land because it is full of gas.
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What is inside on the Jupiter?
The Interior of Jupiter. Most of the interior of Jupiter is liquid (primarily hydrogen and about 10% helium). The central temperatures are thought to lie in the 13,000-35,000 degree Celsius range, and the central pressure is about 100 million Earth atmospheres.
Can you go inside of Jupiter?
The planet is mostly swirling gases and liquids. While a spacecraft would have nowhere to land on Jupiter, it wouldn't be able to fly through unscathed either. The extreme pressures and temperatures deep inside the planet crush, melt, and vaporize spacecraft trying to fly into the planet.
What happens if you go inside of Jupiter?
Jupiter is made of mostly hydrogen and helium gas. If you tried to land on Jupiter, it would be a bad idea. You'd face extremely hot temperatures and you'd free-float in mid-Jupiter with no way of escaping.
Is there a planet inside Jupiter?
The pressure and temperature transforms the hydrogen into an exotic form of liquid metallic hydrogen, similar to the liquid mercury you'd see in a thermometer. This metallic hydrogen region turns inside the planet, and acts like an electric dynamo.
Does it rain diamonds on Jupiter?
New research by scientists apparently shows that it rains diamonds on Jupiter and Saturn. In fact the planets have the capability to create 1000 tonnes of diamonds a year.
Can we walk on Pluto?
If a person wanted to actually walk on the surface of Pluto, the astronaut would probably need to add a significant amount of weight to his gear in order to keep his feet firmly enough on the surface of the planet to actually walk around.
What if Jupiter hit the Sun?
If Jupiter were mixed throughout the sun, the temperature of the sun would decrease slightly, and perhaps it would take a few hundred years for the sun's temperature to return to its previous level, and maybe we would get a few basis points less solar radiation, but it wouldn't go out. Highly active question.
What planets have humans landed on?
Several Soviet and U.S. robotic spacecraft have landed on Venus and the Moon, and the United States has landed spacecraft on the surface of Mars.
What planets can we land on?
Summary. In the Solar System, it would be possible for humans to walk on the terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, and Mars.
What does Jupiter smell like?
Jupiter, that giant planet of swirling gas, smells different depending on which layer you're inhaling. The lighter layers of gas smell like ammonia (think cleaning products and urine), and a little deeper, it's ammonia as well as rotten egg.
What planet did Jupiter swallow?
Jupiter has just swallowed Saturn.
Why is Jupiter so hot?
Jupiter's rocky core lies well below the "surface" and is very hot (around 36,000 degrees F.) due to gravitational compression (compression is a heating process).
Has anyone been to Jupiter?
Nine spacecraft have visited Jupiter since 1973, and they've discovered a lot about the planet. Flip through the slideshow below to find out about these spacecraft and what they've discovered.
Can humans live on Jupiter's moons?
Europa's surface is blasted by radiation from Jupiter. That's a bad thing for life on the surface – it couldn't survive. But the radiation may create fuel for life in an ocean below the surface. The radiation splits apart water molecules (H2O, made of oxygen and hydrogen) in Europa's extremely tenuous atmosphere.
What planets can humans land on?
Summary. In the Solar System, it would be possible for humans to walk on the terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, and Mars.
What if Jupiter hit the Sun?
If Jupiter were mixed throughout the sun, the temperature of the sun would decrease slightly, and perhaps it would take a few hundred years for the sun's temperature to return to its previous level, and maybe we would get a few basis points less solar radiation, but it wouldn't go out. Highly active question.
What is deep inside Jupiter?
So what’s deep down inside Jupiter? What are the various layers and levels, and can I keep thinking of it like a jawbreaker? At the very center of Jupiter is its dense core. Astronomers aren’t sure if there’s a rocky region deep down inside. It’s actually possible that there’s twelve to forty five Earth masses of rocky material within the planet’s core. Now this could be rock, or hydrogen and helium under such enormous forces that it just acts that way. But you couldn’t stand on it. The temperatures are 35,000 degrees C. The pressures are incomprehensible.
What are the bands of ammonia on Jupiter?
Those bands on the planet are clouds of ammonia that rotate around the planet in alternating directions. The lighter color zones are colder ammonia ice upwelling from below. Here’s the exciting part. Astronomers aren’t sure what the darker regions are.
Why did NASA crash the Galileo spacecraft into Jupiter?
In order to protect Jupiter’s moons from contamination, NASA decided to crash the Galileo spacecraft into the planet at the end of its mission. It only got point two percent of the way down through Jupiter’s radius before it was completely destroyed. Jupiter is a remarkably different world from our own.
When did Voyager 1 approach Jupiter?
This animated gif shows Voyager 1’s approach to Jupiter during a period of over 60 Jupiter days in 1979. Credit: NASA.
Is Jupiter's core rocky?
At the very center of Jupiter is its dense core. Astronomers aren’t sure if there’s a rocky region deep down inside. It’s actually possible that there’s twelve to forty five Earth masses of rocky material within the planet’s core.
Is Jupiter a gas?
Well, that’s not entirely true… or even remotely true. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System and two and a half times the mass of the other planets combined. It’s a gas giant, like Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It’s almost 90% hydrogen and 10% helium, and then other trace materials, like methane, ammonia, water and some other stuff. What would be a gas on Earth behaves in very strange ways under Jupiter’s massive pressure and temperatures.
Where did Jupiter form?
There are two leading theories of Jupiter's origin: One holds that Jupiter formed more or less where it is today, while the other suggests Jupiter formed at greater distances from the sun, later migrating to its current location.
How to see Jupiter's clouds?
July 29, 2011: Jupiter's swirling clouds can be seen through any department store telescope. With no more effort than it takes to bend over an eyepiece, you can witness storm systems bigger than Earth navigating ruddy belts that stretch hundreds of thousands of kilometers around Jupiter's vast equator. It's fascinating.
What will Juno do to Jupiter?
Juno will also probe Jupiter's atmosphere using a set of microwave radiometers. "Our sensors can measure the temperature and water content at depths where the pressure is 50 times greater than what the Galileo probe experienced," says Bolton. Jupiter's water content is of particular interest.
What is the Junocam?
It's a puzzle that members of the public will witness at close range thanks to JunoCam—a public outreach instrument modeled on the descent camera for Mars rover Curiosity. When Juno swoops low over the cloudtops, JunoCam will go to work, snapping pictures better than the best Hubble images of Jupiter.
How does Jupiter make its own auroras?
Unlike Earth, which lights up in response to solar activity, Ju piter makes its own auroras. The power source is the giant planet's own rotation. Although Jupiter is ten times wider than Earth, it manages to spin around 2.5 times as fast as our little planet. As any freshman engineering student knows, if you spin a magnet—and Jupiter is a very big magnet—you've got an electric generator. Induced electric fields accelerate particles toward Jupiter's poles where the aurora action takes place. Remarkably, many of the particles that rain down on Jupiter's poles appear to be ejecta from volcanoes on Io. How this complicated system actually works is a puzzle.
Does Juno have polar orbit?
The two theories predict different amounts of water in Jupiter's interior, so Juno should be able to distinguish between them—or rule out both. Finally, Juno will get a grand view of the most powerful Northern Lights in the Solar System. "Juno's polar orbit is ideal for studying Jupiter's auroras," explains Bolton.
Is Jupiter a gas?
Jupiter is made primari ly of hydrogen, but only the outer layers may be in gaseous form. Deep inside Jupiter, researchers believe, high temperatures and crushing pressures transform the gas into an exotic form of matter known as liquid metallic hydrogen--a liquid form of hydrogen akin to the slippery mercury in an old-fashioned thermometer. Jupiter's powerful magnetic field almost certainly springs from dynamo action inside this vast realm of electrically conducting fluid.
What is the atmosphere of Jupiter?
Jupiter is called a gas giant planet. Its atmosphere is made up of mostly hydrogen gas and helium gas, like the sun. The planet is covered in thick red, brown, yellow and white clouds. The clouds make the planet look like it has stripes. One of Jupiter’s most famous features is the Great Red Spot.
How many Earths would fit in Jupiter?
Jupiter is so large that all of the other planets in the solar system could fit inside it. More than 1,300 Earths would fit inside Jupiter. Jupiter is like a star in composition. If Jupiter had been about 80 times more massive, it would have become a star rather than a planet. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun.
What is Jupiter known for?
Jupiter is known for its stripes and large red spot. The Galileo spacecraft took this photo of Jupiter's Great Red Spot in 1996. Jupiter's four largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) are known as the Galilean satellites because they were discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610.
Why are the four moons of Jupiter called Galilean satellites?
Jupiter's four largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) are known as the Galilean satellites because they were discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. NASA's Juno mission will study how Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, formed and became the dynamic world it is today.
How far is Jupiter from the Sun?
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. Jupiter's average distance from the sun is 5.2 astronomical units, or AU. This distance is a little more than five times the distance from Earth to the sun. When viewed from Earth, Jupiter is usually the second brightest planet in the night sky, after Venus.
How many spacecraft have been able to study Jupiter?
From 1979 to 2007, eight NASA spacecraft studied Jupiter: Pioneer 10, Pioneer-Saturn, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Ulysses, Galileo, Cassini and New Horizons. (The Ulysses, Cassini and New Horizons missions flew by Jupiter on their way to planets and locations farther in the solar system.)
How many rings does Jupiter have?
Jupiter has three thin rings that are difficult to see. NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft discovered the rings in 1979. Jupiter’s rings are made up mostly of tiny dust particles.
What is Jupiter covered in?
Jupiter is covered in swirling cloud stripes. It has big storms like the Great Red Spot, which has been going for hundreds of years.
What is Jupiter's history?
Exploration. Galleries. Overview In Depth By the Numbers Exploration Galleries. Jupiter has a long history of surprising scientists – all the way back to 1610 when Galileo Galilei found the first moons beyond Earth. That discovery changed the way we see the universe.
How long does it take Jupiter to orbit the Sun?
Jupiter rotates once about every 10 hours (a Jovian day), but takes about 12 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun (a Jovian year).
How far is Jupiter from the Sun?
Fifth Planet from Our Star. Jupiter orbits about 484 million miles (778 million kilometers) or 5.2 Astronomical Units (AU) from our Sun (Earth is one AU from the Sun). 3.
How many Earths could fit across Jupiter's equator?
Eleven Earths could fit across Jupiter’s equator. If Earth were the size of a grape, Jupiter would be the size of a basketball.
When did Galileo Galilei discover Jupiter?
Jupiter has a long history of surprising scientists – all the way back to 1610 when Galileo Galilei found the first moons beyond Earth. That discovery changed the way we see the universe.
Which planet has the most pop culture?
Pop Culture. The biggest planet in our solar system, Jupiter also has a large presence in pop culture, including many movies, TV shows, video games, and comics.
How did Jupiter form?
Instead, Jupiter formed from the large cloud of gas and dust that surrounded the Sun soon after its birth. As this cloud cooled and condensed, gas and dust particles lumped together so that some regions were denser than others. One of these dense splotches was able to gravitationally pull more and more gas and dust together, swelling into a full-fledged planet.
How does Jupiter protect Earth?
While Jupiter often protects Earth and the other inner planets by deflecting comets and asteroids, sometimes it sends objects on a collision course straight toward the inner planets. Earlier in the solar system’s history, when there were more objects flying around, the increased amount of impacts would have brought to Earth water and other ingredients for life. Of course, other collisions would have been disastrous, such as the impact that likely led to the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
How does Jupiter affect comets?
Jupiter can also radically alter the orbits of small bodies that stray close, hurling them on long orbits that take hundreds or even thousands of years for those bodies to return . We think this is how comets got the extreme orbits that carry them to the far-flung reaches of the solar system. They spend most of their time out there, forming a cometary collection called the Oort cloud, which may extend as far as halfway to the nearest star.
Why are giant planets important?
Giant planets also play a big role in planet formation because their huge masses allow them to shape the orbits of other objects in their planetary systems, such as other planets, asteroids, and comets.
What happens when planets wander toward their stars?
When these giants wander toward their stars, any small, rocky planets that stand in the way can be swallowed up or, due to the giants’ strong gravity, flung out of the star system altogether. But if Jupiter-like planets remain distant from their stars, they can serve as the gatekeepers to their planetary systems.
Why is Jupiter important to the solar system?
Because the existence of Earth and of life depends on the presence of oxygen and these other heavier elements, learning how Jupiter acquired these materials can also tell us something about our very own origin. As the biggest kid on the block, Jupiter’s influence has been felt throughout the solar system.
Why is it important to know the amount of water in the gas giant?
Determining the amount of water – and therefore oxygen – in the gas giant is important not only for understanding how the planet formed , but also how heavy elements were transferred across the solar system. These heavy elements were crucial for the existence of rocky planets like Earth – and life. Since Jupiter is the best example ...