Hobbies And Interests
History
Jupiter is named after the Roman god of lightening, who was the king of the other gods. Because of this planet's massive size, one could see why it was named after the king of the gods. Jupiter was once known as a "wandering star" until four of its larger moons were discovered. Jupiter was first visited by the Pioneer 10 in 1973 and has been visited and observed by other spacecraft. The Galileo orbited Jupiter for 8 years.
Geography
Located 480 million miles from the sun, Jupiter takes nearly 12 years to complete its orbit around the sun. Jupiter is between Mars and Saturn and is the fifth planet from the sun.
Features
Jupiter is a gas planet, which means its composition is mostly atmosphere, getting denser with depth. At the center is a liquid rock core. Jupiter is 90 percent hydrogen and 10 percent helium. The temperature of Jupiter varies according to its depth. At the highest clouds of the planet, the temperature is the coldest, about 250 degrees (F) below freezing. Near the core of Jupiter, the temperature is estimated to be nearly 50,000 degrees (F).
Size
Jupiter is known for its size. It is 88,736 miles across at the equator. Jupiter is so large that it is over one and a half times the size of all the other planets combined. Its mass is 318 times the size of Earth.
Identification
Jupiter can be identified as the fourth brightest object in the sky, after the sun, moon and Venus. In the night sky, Jupiter is the brightest "star." (Venus is usually visible during twilight hours.) With binoculars, the four Galilean moons are visible. With a good telescope, the giant windstorm called the Great Red Spot is seen. There is also a very thin ring around the planet, which was discovered by the Voyager I in March of 1979.