Let's discover the planet Jupiter!

1. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Voyager 1 took this photo of
the planet Jupiter on Jan. 24,
1979, while still more than 25
million miles away. The
Great Red Spot shows
prominently below center,
surrounded by what scientists
call a remarkably complex
region of the giant planet's
atmosphere. Ganymede,
Jupiter's largest satellite, can
be seen to the lower left of
the planet. Ganymede is a
planet-sized body larger than
Mercury.

2. Our Solar System - Jupiter This
Voyager 1
picture of
the great
red spot
shows a
white oval
with its
"wake" of
counter-
rotating
vortices.
North is at
the top
and the
distance
from top to
bottom is
about
24,000 km.

3. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Jupiter has a
series of rings
circling it! Unlike
Saturn's rings,
which are clearly
visible from Earth
even through
small telescopes,
Jupiter's rings are
very difficult to
see. So difficult,
in fact, that they
weren't
discovered until
1979.

4. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Europa, one of
Jupiter's moons, is
one of the most
likely places in the
Solar System to
find life.

5. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Io was first discovered by
Galileo in 1610, making it
one of the Galilean
Satellites. It is the only
moon known to have active
volcanism, which is visible
on the surface.

6. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Ganymede is the
largest moon of
Jupiter and is the
largest in our solar
system with a
diameter of 3,280
miles. If Ganymede
orbited the Sun
instead of Jupiter it
could be classified as
a planet. Ganymede
is most likely
composed of a rocky
core with a water/ice
mantle and a crust of
rock and ice.

7. Our Solar System - Jupiter
This image shows
the heavily cratered
surface of Callisto. It
was taken by
Voyager 2 on July 7,
1979. An enormous
impact basin with
concentric rings is
located near the top
and slightly left of
center. Callisto is the
second largest of
Jupiter’s satellites.

8. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto seen in
comparison with Earth's moon (far right).

9. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Jupiter is the supreme god
of the Roman pantheon,
called dies pater, "shining
father". He is a god of light
and sky, and protector of
the state and its laws.

10. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Jupiter: Facts and Figures
Discovered by: Known by the Ancients
Date of Discovery: Unknown
Distance from the Sun: 483,682,810 Miles
Radius at the Equator: 44,423 Miles
Circumference at Equator: 279,118 Miles
Number of Known Moons: 63
Length of day: 9 hours and 56 minutes
Length of Orbit around Sun: 12 Earth Years

11. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, is more
massive than all of the other planets in the solar
system combined, plus their satellites, the
asteroids and all the comets! Its largest satellite,
Ganymede, is larger than the planet Mercury. Each
of the four "Galilean Moons," discovered by Galileo
in 1610, are larger than the planet Pluto.

12. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Known as a "gas giant," Jupiter's deep gaseous
atmosphere merges imperceptibly into a layer of
liquid hydrogen. Within the planet pressure and
temperature are so high that there is no clear
boundary between the gas and liquid. Jupiter
probably has a central core of rocky material about
1.5 times the diameter of Earth and 10 to 15 times
more massive. Over this may rest an enormous
mantle of liquid metallic hydrogen, which can
conduct electrical currents and may be the source
of Jupiter's intense magnetic field.

13. Our Solar System - Jupiter
Jupiter's atmosphere is composed primarily of
hydrogen and helium in nearly the same
abundances found in the Sun and other stars. Other
compounds have also been found, including
methane, water, ammonia, acetylene, carbon
monoxide and hydrogen cyanide.

14. Our Solar System - Jupiter
The Great Red Spot is a storm in Jupiter's
atmosphere and is at least 300 years old. Winds
blow counterclockwise around the Great Red Spot
at about 400 kilometers per hour (250 miles per
hour). The size of the storm is more than one Earth
diameter (13,000 kilometers or 8,000 miles) in the
north-south direction and more than two Earth
diameters in the east-west direction.