       |
       |
|
|
|
Jupiter
Description Jupiter is a gas giant. This means that it has a huge atmosphere, a liquid mantle, and a liquid / solid core, with no definite boundary between the layers. The core of Jupiter is probably composed of liquid rock, at a temperature as high as 24,000 K (43,000 °F). The core is small relative to the planet, about 20% of its radius, but it is still fifteen times heavier than the Earth. Next comes a layer of liquid hydrogen that is under the pressure of 10,000,000 Earth atmospheres. This changes the nature of the hydrogen in such a way that it is able to conduct electricity as metal does, so it is called "metallic hydrogen." This generates the planet's magnetic field which is 20,000 times stronger than Earth's. This layer also makes up most of the planet The layer on top of this is ordinary liquid hydrogen. This makes up the upper 25% of the planet. Next, the hydrogen thins out into the gaseous atmosphere which
is 1000 km (620 miles) deep. It is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium with
trace amounts of methane, water, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide. Some scientists
believe that there are also polysulphur compounds and phosphine which lend their
colors to the clouds. Jupiter also has a faint ring system. It is comprised of one main ring, with fuzzier "gossamer" rings farther out. The system is only a few thousand kilometers from the sharp outer edge to the inner fuzzy edge, which continues to the planet's atmosphere. The picture at left was taken by the Galileo spacecraft when the sun was behind Jupiter, so the rings were backlit. Unique Characteristics
The second characteristic is the Great Red Spot. This is a gigantic (three Earth diameters) storm that has existed for more than three centuries (Galileo discovered it in the seventeenth century). It will probably continue to exist for hundreds or thousands of years, for it is constantly being fed by smaller eddies surrounding it, such as the white spots in the picture at the right. The third characteristic is its many moons. Jupiter has the most moons of any planet in the solar system: . Mythology Jupiter is named after the Roman god of lightning, who was also the King of the gods. Jupiter is definitely king over the planets, for it is so big that the next-smallest planet, Saturn, could fit in it more than one and one half times. Data for the Planets
|
Jupiter
has three main unique characteristics. The first one is its immense size. It
is indeed, as its name suggests, the king of the planets. About 1,320 Earths
could fit inside of it.