Jupiter is the fifth pla from the Sun and by far the largest. Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all the other plas bined (the mass of Jupiter is 318 times that of Earth).
orbit: 778,330,000 km (5.20 AU) from Sun
diameter: 142,984 km (equatorial)
mass: 1.900e27 kg
Jupiter (a.k.a. Jove; Greek Zeus) was the King of the Gods, the ruler of Olympus and the patron of the Roman state. Zeus was the son of Cronus (Saturn).
Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in the sky (after the Sun, the Moon and Venus). It has been known since prehistoric times as a bright "wandering star". But in 1610 when Galileo first pointed a telescope at the sky he discovered Jupiter's four large moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto (now known as the Galilean moons) and recorded their motions back and forth around Jupiter. This was the first discovery of a center of motion not apparently centered on the Earth. It was a major point in for of Copernicus's heliocentric theory of the motions of the plas (along with other new evidence from his telescope: the phases of Venus and the mountains on the Moon). Galileo's outspoken support of the Copernican theory got him in trouble with the Inquisition. Today anyone can repeat Galileo's observations (without fear of retribution :-) using binoculars or an inexpensive telescope.
Jupiter was first visited by Pioneer 10 in 1973 and later by Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and Ulysses. The spacecraft Galileo orbited Jupiter for eight years. It is still regularly observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The gas plas do not he solid surfaces, their gaseous material simply gets denser with depth (the radii and diameters quoted for the plas are for levels corresponding to a pressure of 1 atmosphere). What we see when looking at these plas is the tops of clouds high in their atmospheres (slightly above the 1 atmosphere level).
Jupiter is about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium (by numbers of atoms, 75/25% by mass) with traces of methane, water, ammonia and "rock". This is very close to the position of the primordial Solar Nebula from which the entire solar system was formed. Saturn has a similar position, but Uranus and Neptune he much less hydrogen and helium.
Our knowledge of the interior of Jupiter (and the other gas plas) is highly indirect and likely to remain so for some time. (The data from Galileo's atmospheric probe goes down only about 150 km below the cloud tops.)
Jupiter probably has a core of rocky material amounting to something like 10 to 15 Earth-masses.
Above the core lies the main bulk of the pla in the form of liquid metallic hydrogen. This exotic form of the most mon of elements is possible only at pressures exceeding 4 million bars, as is the case in the interior of Jupiter (and Saturn). Liquid metallic hydrogen consists of ionized protons and electrons (like the interior of the Sun but at a far lower temperature). At the temperature and pressure of Jupiter's interior hydrogen is a liquid, not a gas. It is an electrical conductor and the source of Jupiter's magic field. This layer probably also contains some helium and traces of various "ices".
The outermost layer is posed primarily of ordinary molecular hydrogen and helium which is liquid in the interior and gaseous further out. The atmosphere we see is just the very top of this deep layer. Water, carbon dioxide, methane and other simple molecules are also present in tiny amounts.
Recent experiments he shown that hydrogen does not change phase suddenly. Therefore the interiors of the jovian plas probably he indistinct boundaries between their various interior layers.
Three distinct layers of clouds are believed to exist consisting of ammonia ice, ammonium hydrosulfide and a mixture of ice and water. However, the preliminary results from the Galileo probe show only faint indications of clouds (one instrument seems to he detected the topmost layer while another may he seen the second). But the probe's entry point (left) was unusual -- Earth-based telescopic observations and more recent observations by the Galileo orbiter suggest that the probe entry site may well he been one of the warmest and least cloudy areas on Jupiter at that time.
Data from the Galileo atmospheric probe also indicate that there is much less water than expected. The expectation was that Jupiter's atmosphere would contain about twice the amount of oxygen (bined with the abundant hydrogen to make water) as the Sun. But it now appears that the actual concentration much less than the Sun's. Also surprising was the high temperature and density of the uppermost parts of the atmosphere.
Jupiter and the other gas plas he high velocity winds which are confined in wide bands of latitude. The winds blow in opposite directions in adjacent bands. Slight chemical and temperature differences between these bands are responsible for the colored bands that dominate the pla's appearance. The light colored bands are called zones; the dark ones belts. The bands he been known for some time on Jupiter, but the plex vortices in the boundary regions between the bands were first seen by Voyager. The data from the Galileo probe indicate that the winds are even faster than expected (more than 400 mph) and extend down into as far as the probe was able to observe; they may extend down thousands of kilometers into the interior. Jupiter's atmosphere was also found to be quite turbulent. This indicates that Jupiter's winds are driven in large part by its internal heat rather than from solar input as on Earth.
The vivid colors seen in Jupiter's clouds are probably the result of subtle chemical reactions of the trace elements in Jupiter's atmosphere, perhaps involving sulfur whose pounds take on a wide variety of colors, but the details are unknown.
The colors correlate with the cloud's altitude: blue lowest, followed by browns and whites, with reds highest. Sometimes we see the lower layers through holes in the upper ones.
The Great Red Spot (GRS) has been seen by Earthly observers for more than 300 years (its discovery is usually attributed to Cassini, or Robert Hooke in the 17th century). The GRS is an oval about 12,000 by 25,000 km, big enough
to hold two Earths. Other smaller but similar spots he been known for decades. Infrared observations and the direction of its rotation indicate that the GRS is a high-pressure region whose cloud tops are significantly higher and colder than the surrounding regions. Similar structures he been seen on Saturn and Neptune. It is not known how such structures can persist for so long.
Jupiter radiates more energy into space than it receives from the Sun. The interior of Jupiter is hot: the core is probably about 20,000 K. The heat is generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism, the slow gritational pression of the pla. (Jupiter does NOT produce energy by nuclear fusion as in the Sun; it is much too small and hence its interior is too cool to ignite nuclear reactions.) This interior heat probably causes convection deep within Jupiter's liquid layers and is probably responsible for the plex motions we see in the cloud tops. Saturn and Neptune are similar to Jupiter in this respect, but oddly, Uranus is not.
Jupiter is just about as large in diameter as a gas pla can be. If more material were to be added, it would be pressed by grity such that the overall radius would increase only slightly. A star can be larger only because of its internal (nuclear) heat source. (But Jupiter would he to be at least 80 times more massive to bee a star.)
Jupiter has a huge magic field, much stronger than Earth's. Its magosphere extends more than 650 million km (past the orbit of Saturn!). (Note that Jupiter's magosphere is far from spherical -- it extends "only" a few million kilometers in the direction toward the Sun.) Jupiter's moons therefore lie within its magosphere, a fact which may partially explain some of the activity on Io. Unfortunately for future space trelers and of real concern to the designers of the Voyager and Galileo spacecraft, the environment near Jupiter contains high levels of energetic particles trapped by Jupiter's magic field. This "radiation" is similar to, but much more intense than, that found within Earth's Van Allen belts. It would be immediately fatal to an unprotected human being.
The Galileo atmospheric probe discovered a new intense radiation belt between Jupiter's ring and the uppermost atmospheric layers. This new belt is approximately 10 times as strong as Earth's Van Allen radiation belts. Surprisingly, this new belt was also found to contain high energy helium ions of unknown origin.
Jupiter has rings like Saturn's, but much fainter and smaller (right). They were totally unexpected and were only discovered when two of the Voyager 1 scientists insisted that after treling 1 billion km it was at least worth a quick look to see if any rings might be present. Everyone else thought that the chance of finding anything was nil, but there they were. It was a major coup. They he since been imaged in the infra-red from ground-based observatories and by Galileo.
Unlike Saturn's, Jupiter's rings are dark (albedo about .05). They're probably posed of very small grains of rocky material. Unlike Saturn's rings, they seem to contain no ice.
Particles in Jupiter's rings probably don't stay there for long (due to atmospheric and magic drag). The Galileo spacecraft found clear evidence that the rings are continuously resupplied by dust formed by micrometeor impacts on the four inner moons, which are very energetic because of Jupiter's large gritational field. The inner halo ring is broadened by interactions with Jupiter's magic field.
In July 1994, et Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter with spectacular results (left). The effects were clearly visible even with amateur telescopes. The debris from the collision was visible for nearly a year afterward with HST.
When it is in the nighttime sky, Jupiter is often the brightest "star" in the sky (it is second only to Venus, which is seldom visible in a dark sky). The four Galilean moons are easily visible with binoculars; a few bands and the Great Red Spot can be seen with a small astronomical telescope. There are several Web sites that show the current position of Jupiter (and the other plas) in the sky. More detailed and customized charts can be created with a plaarium program.
Jupiter's Satellites
Jupiter has 63 known satellites (as of Feb 2004): the four large Galilean moons plus many more small ones some of which he not yet been named:
Jupiter is very gradually slowing down due to the tidal drag produced by the Galilean satellites. Also, the same tidal forces are changing the orbits of the moons, very slowly forcing them farther from Jupiter.
Io, Europa and Ganymede are locked together in a 1:2:4 orbital resonance and their orbits evolve together. Callisto is almost part of this as well. In a few hundred million years, Callisto will be locked in too, orbiting at exactly twice the period of Ganymede (eight times the period of Io).
Jupiter's satellites are named for other figures in the life of Zeus (mostly his numerous lovers).
Many more small moons he been discovered recently but he not as yet been officially confirmed or named. The most up to date info on them can be found at Scott Sheppard's site.
Distance Radius Mass
Satellite (000 km) (km) (kg) Discoverer Date
--------- -------- ------ ------- ---------- -----
Metis 128 20 9.56e16 Synnott 1979
Adrastea 129 10 1.91e16 Jewitt 1979
Amalthea 181 98 7.17e18 Barnard 1892
Thebe 222 50 7.77e17 Synnott 1979
Io 422 1815 8.94e22 Galileo 1610
Europa 671 1569 4.80e22 Galileo 1610
Ganymede 1070 2631 1.48e23 Galileo 1610
Callisto 1883 2400 1.08e23 Galileo 1610
Leda 11094 8 5.68e15 Kowal 1974
Himalia 11480 93 9.56e18 Perrine 1904
Lysithea 11720 18 7.77e16 Nicholson 1938
Elara 11737 38 7.77e17 Perrine 1905
Ananke 21200 15 3.82e16 Nicholson 1951
Carme 22600 20 9.56e16 Nicholson 1938
Pasiphae 23500 25 1.91e17 Melotte 1908
Sinope 23700 18 7.77e16 Nicholson 1914
Values for the smaller moons are approximate. Many more small moons are not listed here.
Jupiter's Rings
Distance Width Mass
Ring (km) (km) (kg)
---- -------- ----- ------
Halo 100000 22800 ?
Main 122800 6400 1e13
Gossamer 129200 214200 ?
(distance is from Jupiter's center to the ring's inner edge)
