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Jupiter |
Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. It is a gas giant planet(along with Saturn (Uranus and Neptune are ice giants)). with a mass one-thousandth of that of the Sun, but is two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. |
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Orbital period |
11.86 years |
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Rotation |
Jupiter's rotation is the fastest of all the Solar System's planets, completing a rotation on its axis in slightly less than ten hours; this creates an equatorial bulge easily seen through an Earth-based amateur telescope. |
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Etymology |
The Romans named it after their god Jupiter. |
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Moons |
Jupiter has 67 natural satellites. Of these, 51 are less than 10 kilometres in diameter and have only been discovered since 1975. The four largest moons, visible from Earth with binoculars on a clear night, known as the "Galilean moons", are
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Atmosphere |
The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries. A prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope. |
- Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium, although helium only comprises about a tenth of the number of molecules.
- Jupiter lacks a well-defined solid surface.
- Because of its rapid rotation, the planet's shape is that of an oblate spheroid, meaning that the diameter across its equator is longer than the diameter measured between its poles.
- Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere.