The Planet Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun, after the Earth and Mars, with a surface surpassing any other planet in size. It has been explored since the 1970s by four space crafts that flew by it studying everything they could related to the planet. Pioneer 10 and 11, as well as Voyager 1 and 2 were in charge of exploring Jupiter in the past and the Galileo spacecraft has been doing the same for the last 8 years.

What we know about Jupiter so far is that it is a very scary planet. The surface of Jupiter is actually an immense ball of gas, composed of hydrogen and helium, and the planet is home to incredibly violent storms. By looking at pictures of Jupiter one can see gas spinning around its surface with a great spot south of its equator. The Great Red Spot is actually a huge storm that has been going on for almost two centuries, and is bigger in size than Earth itself.

Jupiter’s rotation around the Sun happens in a period of 12 Earth years, while a rotation around its axis takes little under 10 hours. It is the fastest spinning planet in the entire solar system. The position of the planet on its orbit and the distance from the Sun makes Jupiter’s temperature range from -163 to 121 degrees Celsius.

Unlike other planets, Jupiter has a magnetic field and an atmosphere. The Jupiter magnetic field is 14 times stronger than that of Earth and its atmosphere is 90% hydrogen, 10% helium. However this is the composition in the upper atmosphere, no one can tell what happens beneath the cloud cover; some speculate that airborne life might exist. Gravity on Jupiter is 2.4 times that of Earth, due to its giant size.

Although life on Jupiter may never exist, there is a possibility for life on one of its 63 moons. Four of these are called the Galilean moons - Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto – and are the largest natural satellites in the solar system. The Jupiter moons have very unique features and geography.