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Description
JUPITER

Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. With a diameter eleven times that of the Earth, its globe could contain over a thousand planets the same size as ours! It is more than twice as massive as all the other planets in the Solar System put together. Despite its huge size, Jupiter rotates on its axis in just 9 hours and 55 minutes. Because it spins so quickly, it bulges at the equator and is slightly flattened at the poles. Covered in light and dark bands of turbulent cloud, Jupiter can easily be seen in some detail through a fairly small telescope. Like the Sun, Jupiter is composed mainly of the elements hydrogen and helium. Beneath the cloud there is no solid surface, and apart from a central rocky core, Jupiter is a spinning globe of liquid. Although the cloud tops are cold (about -138°C), the interior of Jupiter has a central temperature of over 20,000°C, and the planet gives out twice as much heat as it receives from the Sun. Jupiter has 79 moons and a thin dusty ring, but its most famous feature is the Great Red Spot, now known to be a huge rotating weather system. Jupiter was the chief of the Roman gods and his name was given to the planet because it is by far the brightest object in the Solar System except for Venus, which can sometimes outshine it. But Jupiter is the innermost of the gas giants, can certainly be by far the brightest of the planets to be seen in the night sky. At opposition, which occurs approximately every 13 months, Jupiter presents a disc some 10 times larger than Mars. This is because of Jupiter's immense size; it is the biggest planet in the Solar System, more than 11 times larger than the Earth and is greater in mass than all the other planets together. Using any telescope or good binoculars, you can see Jupiter's disc as well as its four largest satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Rendered using SpaceEngine

Description
JUPITER

Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. With a diameter eleven times that of the Earth, its globe could contain over a thousand planets the same size as ours! It is more than twice as massive as all the other planets in the Solar System put together. Despite its huge size, Jupiter rotates on its axis in just 9 hours and 55 minutes. Because it spins so quickly, it bulges at the equator and is slightly flattened at the poles. Covered in light and dark bands of turbulent cloud, Jupiter can easily be seen in some detail through a fairly small telescope. Like the Sun, Jupiter is composed mainly of the elements hydrogen and helium. Beneath the cloud there is no solid surface, and apart from a central rocky core, Jupiter is a spinning globe of liquid. Although the cloud tops are cold (about -138°C), the interior of Jupiter has a central temperature of over 20,000°C, and the planet gives out twice as much heat as it receives from the Sun. Jupiter has 79 moons and a thin dusty ring, but its most famous feature is the Great Red Spot, now known to be a huge rotating weather system. Jupiter was the chief of the Roman gods and his name was given to the planet because it is by far the brightest object in the Solar System except for Venus, which can sometimes outshine it. But Jupiter is the innermost of the gas giants, can certainly be by far the brightest of the planets to be seen in the night sky. At opposition, which occurs approximately every 13 months, Jupiter presents a disc some 10 times larger than Mars. This is because of Jupiter's immense size; it is the biggest planet in the Solar System, more than 11 times larger than the Earth and is greater in mass than all the other planets together. Using any telescope or good binoculars, you can see Jupiter's disc as well as its four largest satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Rendered using SpaceEngine