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Jupiter

Information about the planet Jupiter.

Actual		 Compared
to Earth
Distance from Sun (average) 480 million miles 5.2
Distance from Sun (current) loading... loading...
Distance from Earth (current) loading...
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Revolution Period 11.9 Earth years --
Rotation Period 9 hr. 50 min. --
Diameter - equatorial 89,000 miles 11.3
Diameter - polar 83,000 miles 10.5
Mass -- 318
Surface Gravity -- 2.4
Escape Velocity 134,664 mph 5.38
Average Cloud Temperature -121 °C (-186 °F) --
Density (gram/cubic cm) 1.33 gm/cm3 0.24

What To Look For Through The Telescope

  1. Recommended eyepiece: 26mm or 40 mm.

  2. Jupiter will appear as a bright white ball. If it is too bright, use the mask that fits over the front of the telescope.

  3. Jupiter will appear as a bright white ball with brown belts. The different colors are caused by different layers of gas in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

  4. Jupiter trail's only Saturn (which may have as many as 82 moons) as the planet with the most moons: Jupiter has 53 named moons and 26 others awaiting confirmation and official names; for a combined possible total of 79 moons.

  5. Up to four of Jupiter’s 79 moons can also be seen. These four moons, which lie in a plane, are referred to as the Galilean moons.

Jupiter Information

  1. Jupiter is a large ball of hydrogen and helium gas. This is the same material that makes up the Sun. In fact, if Jupiter had 100 times more material (hydrogen and helium) it would have become a star.

  2. Jupiter has three cloud layers.

    a. The top layer is white, composed of ammonia which freezes at the low temperatures of Jupiter’s upper atmosphere (-193 deg. F).

    b. The middle layer is brown (ammonium hydrosulfide), and can only be seen through holes in the top white cloud layer. The brown belts are really high pressure regions in the atmosphere - similar to high pressure regions here on Earth.

    c. The lowest layer is blue (water). Since the ability to see the blue clouds requires holes in both the white and brown cloud layers at the same place, they are rarely seen.

  3. The clouds are stretched into bands because Jupiter rotates once every 9 hours and 50 minutes. This rapid rotation along with Jupiter’s larger size means the cloud tops on Jupiter are moving over 28,000 miles per hour compared with only 1,000 miles per hour here on Earth.

  4. The Great Red Spot has not been prominent for the last few years.

    a. It is a cloud feature two to three times the diameter of Earth.

    b. It is similar to a hurricane, except it is an area of high pressure instead of low pressure.

    c. The red spot extends about 10km (6 miles) above the white layer of clouds.

  5. Jupiter has a very strong magnetic field. Charged particles are trapped by the field near to the planet, creating a deadly radiation environment (for both humans and electronic equipment on spacecraft).

  6. Jupiter – like the other gas giant planets Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – has a system of rings. However, they are very thin and dim, and cannot be seen from Earth. a. There is a system of three rings - The “Halo” begins at about 100,000 km from Jupiter’s center and extends to 122,800 km.; The “Main” begins at 122,800 km and extends to 129,200 km; and the “Gossamer” begins at 129,200 km and extends to 214,200 km.

    b. Two small moons that lie inside the circle of the “Main” ring may serve as the source of the dust that makes up the rings.

    c. The dust particles that make up the rings is thought to be composed of dust particles about the size of cigarette smoke particles.

  7. Jupiter has 53 confirmed moons and scientist believe there are 26 more provisional ones for a total of 79 moons… is has so many that it is almost a mini solar system. (as of 2019-10-10)

  8. Jupiter has northern lights, too!

    a. Aurora on Earth are caused by charged particles coming from the Sun interacting with our magnetic field.

    b. Aurora on Jupiter are caused by charged particles ejected from volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon, Io, which interact with Jupiter’s magnetic field.

  9. The first reasonably accurate determination of the speed of light was made in 1675 by Olaf Roemer, a Danish astronomer, who worked at the Paris Observatory. He made this determination by observing eclipses of one of Jupiter’s moons.

  10. It takes 43 minutes for sunlight to travel from the Sun to Jupiter.
Home > Solar System > Jupiter > References
References
Item Updated Notes
Distance from Sun (average) 2017-04-06 http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Jupiter
Revolution Period 2017-04-06 solarsystem.nasa.gov
Rotation Period 2017-04-06 solarsystem.nasa.gov
Equatorial Diameter 2017-04-06 solarsystem.nasa.gov
Polar Diameter 2017-04-06 https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/jupiterfact.html
Mass 2017-04-06 solarsystem.nasa.gov
Surface Gravity 2017-04-06 solarsystem.nasa.gov
Avg. Cloud Temperature 2017-04-06 http://www.solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm
Density 2017-04-06 solarsystem.nasa.gov
Other Information 2017-04-06 Hordes of info
@solarsystem.nasa.gov
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/jupiterfact.html

Speed of light info from
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0301/09gravity/

Additional ring info from
http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/
Home > Solar System > Jupiter > Gallilean Moons

Galilean Moons


Moon		 Distance
from Jupiter
(miles)		 Compared to
Earth-Moon
distance		 Revolution
Period
(around Jupiter)
Diameter
(miles)		 Diameter
Compared to
Earth’s Moon
Io 262,000 1.1 1.8 2250 1.05
Europa 417,000 1.7 3.6 1950 0.90
Ganymede 665,000 2.8 7.2 3300 1.5
Callisto 1.17 million 4.9 16.7 3000 1.4

Galilean Moons General Information

  1. Jupiter has 53 named moons and 26 others awaiting official names for a combined possible total of 79 moons. Jupiter only recently lost the title of planet with the most moons to Saturn, which has possibly 82 moons.
Home > Solar System > Jupiter > Gallilean Moons > Io

Io

  1. The gravity of Jupiter, Europa, and Ganymede create powerful tidal forces, squeezing and pulling on the moon.

  2. One result is that the surface of Io bulges up and down by as much as 330 feet! (Tidal forces on Earth’s oceans only make a difference of 60 feet.)

  3. Another result is that Io is the most volcanically active object in the solar system: the squeezing and pulling heat up Io and power the volcanoes.

  4. The Galileo spacecraft observed 300 volcanoes that had been active at various times…

  5. These volcanoes spew out sulfur and sulfur dioxide at a rate of 10 thousand tons a second, enough to cover Io with 3 feet of material every 100 years. Any craters that were on Io have long since been filled in.

  6. The sulfur compounds spewed out by the volcanoes produce a variety of reds, oranges, browns, and whites. As a result, the surface of Io is very colorful. One astronomer was heard to remark when he saw the first pictures of Io that he had seen better looking pizzas.

  7. Only three objects in the solar system are known to have active volcanoes: Io, Earth, and Neptune’s moon, Triton.
Home > Solar System > Jupiter > Gallilean Moons > Europa

Europa

  1. Europa is the smoothest object in the solar system. It doesn’t have any mountains and only a few craters that are less than three hundred feet deep.

  2. Europa is internally heated the same way as Io, but much less than Io.

  3. Europa’s surface is really a crust of ice. Underneath this ice crust, there may be a liquid water ocean many miles deep.

  4. Europa is covered by a network of streaks and cracks. If Europa is also squeezed a pulled a bit, these streaks and cracks may be where the ice fractured, filled with water, then froze.
Home > Solar System > Jupiter > Gallilean Moons > Ganymede

Ganymede

  1. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, and is larger than the planet Mercury.

  2. If Ganymede went around the Sun instead of Jupiter, it would be called a planet.

  3. It is about half ice and half rock.

  4. The surface of Ganymede is interesting: it has mountains, valleys, craters, lava flows, and light and dark regions.

  5. Ganymede probably also has a subsurface ocean.
Home > Solar System > Jupiter > Gallilean Moons > Callisto

Callisto

  1. Callisto is the third largest moon in our solar system and is about the same size as the planet Mercury.

  2. If Callisto went around the Sun instead of Jupiter, it would be called a planet.

  3. Like Ganymede, Callisto is half ice and half rock.

  4. Callisto is the most heavily cratered satellite in the solar system. There are no large mountains on this moon.
Home > Solar System > Jupiter > Gallilean Moons > References
References
Item Updated Notes
Distance 2017-04-06 http://solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm
Compared to E/M 2017-04-06 http://solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm
Revolution Period 2017-04-06 http://solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm
Diameter 2017-04-06 http://solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm
Diameter compared to Moon 2017-04-06 http://solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm
Other Information 2017-04-06 Hordes more info @
http://solarviews.com/eng/jupiter.htm
and https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/jupiter/moons
Ganymede oceans,
Galileo spacecraft
observation of
volcanoes and
corrected amount
of volcanoes spew.		 2017-04-06 https://www.nasa.gov/press/2015/march/nasa-s-hubble-observations-suggest-underground-ocean-on-jupiters-largest-moon
and
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/98/iohot.html
Number of Moons 2019-10-10 https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/overview/?page=0&per_page=40&order=name+asc&search=&placeholder=Enter+moon+name&condition_1=9%3Aparent_id&condition_2=moon%3Abody_type%3Ailike
https://carnegiescience.edu/news/dozen-new-moons-jupiter-discovered-including-one-%E2%80%9Coddball%E2%80%9D