Jupiter properties of the planet. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system

In addition to the Sun, the planet Jupiter is indeed the largest in size and mass in our solar system, it is not for nothing that it is named after the main and most powerful god of the ancient pantheon - Jupiter in the Roman tradition (aka Zeus, in the Greek tradition). Also, the planet Jupiter is fraught with many mysteries and has already been mentioned more than once on the pages of our scientific site, in today's article we will collect all the information about this interesting giant planet together, so forward to Jupiter.

Who Discovered Jupiter

But first, a little history of the discovery of Jupiter. In fact, the Babylonian priests and astronomers were already well aware of Jupiter. the ancient world, it is in their works that there are the first mentions of this giant in history. The thing is that Jupiter is so large that it could always be seen in the starry sky with the naked eye.

The famous astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first to study the planet Jupiter through a telescope, and he also discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter. At that time, the discovery of satellites near Jupiter was an important argument in favor of Copernicus's heliocentric model (that the center celestial system is, not the Earth). And the great scientist himself, for his revolutionary, at that time, discoveries underwent persecution by the Inquisition, but that's another story.

Subsequently, many astronomers looked at Jupiter through their telescopes, making different interesting discoveries, for example, the astronomer Cassini discovered a large red spot on the planet's surface (we will write about it in more detail below) and also calculated the rotation period and differential rotation of the Jupiter atmosphere. Astronomer E. Bernard discovered the last satellite of Jupiter Amateus. Observations of Jupiter with more and more powerful telescopes continue to this day.

Features of the planet Jupiter

If we compare Jupiter with our planet, then the size of Jupiter is 317 times larger than the size of the Earth. In addition, Jupiter is 2.5 times larger than all other planets in the solar system combined. As for the mass of Jupiter, it is 318 times greater than the mass of the Earth and 2.5 times greater than the mass of all other planets in the solar system combined. Jupiter's mass is 1.9 x 10 * 27.

Jupiter temperature

What is the temperature on Jupiter day and night? Considering the great remoteness of the planet from the Sun, it is logical to assume that it is cold on Jupiter, but not everything is so simple. The outer atmosphere of the giant is indeed very cold, the temperature there is about -145 degrees C, but as it deepens several hundred kilometers into the interior of the planet, it becomes warmer. Moreover, it is not just warmer, but simply hot, because on the surface of Jupiter the temperature can reach up to +153 C. Such a strong temperature difference is due to the fact that the surface of the planet consists of burning, emitting heat. Moreover, the inner parts of the planet give off even more heat than Jupiter itself receives from the Sun.

All this is complemented by the strongest storms raging on the planet (wind speed reaches 600 km per hour), which mix the heat emanating from the hydrogen component of Jupiter with the cold air of the atmosphere.

Is there life on Jupiter

As you can see physical conditions on Jupiter are very harsh, so, given the absence of a solid surface, high atmospheric and high temperatures on the very surface of the planet, life on Jupiter is not possible.

Jupiter's atmosphere

Jupiter's atmosphere is enormous, as is Jupiter itself. The chemical composition of Jupiter's atmosphere is 90% hydrogen and 10% helium, and some others are also part of the atmosphere. chemical elements: ammonia, methane, hydrogen sulfide. And since Jupiter is a gas giant without a solid surface, there is no border between its atmosphere and the surface itself.

But if we began to sink deeper and deeper into the bowels of the planet, we would notice changes in the density and temperature of hydrogen and helium. Based on these changes, scientists have identified such parts of the planet's atmosphere as the troposphere, stratosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.

Why is Jupiter not a star

Perhaps the readers have noticed that in its composition, and especially in the predominance of hydrogen and helium, Jupiter is very similar to the Sun. In this regard, the question arises why Jupiter is still a planet and not a star. The fact is that it simply did not have enough mass and heat to start fusing hydrogen atoms into helium. Scientists estimate that Jupiter needs to increase its current mass 80 times to start thermo nuclear reactions that occur on the sun and other stars.

Photo of the planet Jupiter

Jupiter surface

Due to the absence of a solid surface from the giant planet, scientists took the lowest point in its atmosphere, where the pressure is 1 bar, for a certain conditional surface. Various chemical elements that make up the planet's atmosphere contribute to the formation of Jupiter's colorful clouds, which we can observe through a telescope. It is the ammonia clouds that are responsible for the reddish-white striped color of the planet Jupiter.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot

If you look closely at the surface of the giant planet, you will definitely not escape the characteristic large red spot, which was first noticed by the astronomer Cassini, observing Jupiter in the late 1600s. What is this large red spot of Jupiter? According to scientists, this is a large atmospheric storm, and so large that it has been raging in the southern hemisphere of the planet for more than 400 years, and possibly longer (given that it could have occurred long before Cassini saw it).

Although in recent years, astronomers have noticed that the storm began to subside slowly, as the size of the spot began to decrease. One hypothesis is that the big red spot will be circular by 2040, but how long it will last is unknown.

Jupiter's age

On this moment the exact age of the planet Jupiter is unknown. Difficulties in determining it lie in the fact that scientists do not yet know how Jupiter was formed. According to one hypothesis, Jupiter, like other planets, was formed from a solar nebula about 4.6 billion years ago, but this is just a hypothesis.

Jupiter's rings

Yes, Jupiter, like any decent giant planet, has rings. Of course, they are not as large and noticeable as those of his neighbor. Jupiter's rings are thinner and weaker, most likely they consist of substances ejected by the giant's satellites when they collide with wandering asteroids and.

Moons of Jupiter

Jupiter has as many as 67 satellites, in fact more than all other planets in the solar system. The satellites of Jupiter are of great interest to scientists, as among them there are such large specimens that are larger than some small planets (like and no longer "planets"), which also have significant reserves of groundwater.

Jupiter's rotation

One year on Jupiter lasts our 11.86 Earth years. It is during this period of time that Jupiter makes one revolution around the Sun. The speed of the planet Jupiter in its orbit is 13 km per second. Jupiter's orbit is slightly tilted (about 6.09 degrees) compared to the plane of the ecliptic.

How long to fly to Jupiter

How long is it to fly to Jupiter from Earth? When Earth and Jupiter are closest to each other, the distance between them is 628 million kilometers. How long can modern spacecraft take this distance? Launched by NASA back in 1979, the Voyager 1 research shuttle took 546 days to fly to Jupiter. For Voyager 2, a similar flight took 688 days.

• Despite its truly gigantic size, Jupiter is also the fastest planet in rotation around the axis in the solar system, so it only takes 10 of our hours to make one revolution around the axis, thus, a day on Jupiter is equal to 10 hours.
• Clouds on Jupiter can be up to 10 km thick.
• Jupiter has an intense magnetic field that is 16 times stronger than Earth's magnetic field.
• It is quite possible to see Jupiter with your own eyes, and most likely you have seen it more than once, you just did not know that it was Jupiter. If in the night starry sky you see a large and bright star, then most likely this is it.

Planet Jupiter, video

And in the end an interesting one documentary about Jupiter.

When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and high-quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments to the article. Also, you can write your wish / question / suggestion to my mail [email protected] or Facebook, sincerely the author.

Characteristics of the planet:

• Distance from the Sun: ~ 778.3 million km
• Planet diameter: 143,000 km*
• Day on the planet: 9h 50min 30s**
• Year on the planet: 11.86 years***
• t ° on the surface: -150 ° C
• Atmosphere: 82% hydrogen; 18% helium and minor traces of other elements
• Satellites: 16

* diameter at the equator of the planet
** period of rotation around its own axis (in Earth days)
*** period of orbit around the sun (in earth days)

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. It is located at a distance of 5.2 astronomical years from the Sun, which is approximately 775 million km. The planets of the solar system are divided by astronomers into two conditional groups: terrestrial planets and gas giants. The largest planet in the group of gas giants is Jupiter.

Presentation: Planet Jupiter

The dimensions of Jupiter exceed the dimensions of the Earth by 318 times, and if it were even larger by about 60 times, it would have every chance of becoming a star due to a spontaneous thermonuclear reaction. The planet's atmosphere is about 85% hydrogen. The remaining 15% is mainly helium with admixtures of ammonia and sulfur and phosphorus compounds. Jupiter's atmosphere also contains methane.

With the help of spectral analysis, it was found that there is no oxygen on the planet, therefore, there is no water - the basis of life. According to another hypothesis, there is still ice in Jupiter's atmosphere. Perhaps no planet in our system causes so much controversy in the scientific world... Especially many hypotheses are associated with internal structure Jupiter. Recent studies of the planet using spacecraft have made it possible to create a model that makes it possible to high degree reliability to judge its structure.

Internal structure

The planet is a spheroid, strongly compressed from the poles. She possesses strong magnetic field, which goes millions of kilometers per orbit. The atmosphere is an alternation of layers with different physical properties... Scientists suggest that Jupiter has a solid core 1 - 1.5 times the diameter of the Earth, but much denser. Its presence has not yet been proven, but it has not been refuted either.

Atmosphere and surface

The upper layer of Jupiter's atmosphere consists of a mixture of hydrogen and helium gases and has a thickness of 8 - 20 thousand km. In the next layer, the thickness of which is 50-60 thousand km, due to an increase in pressure, the gas mixture turns into a liquid state. In this layer, the temperature can reach 20,000 C. Even lower (at a depth of 60 - 65 thousand km), hydrogen transforms into a metallic state. This process is accompanied by an increase in temperature up to 200,000 C. At the same time, the pressure reaches fantastic values ​​of 5,000,000 atmospheres. Metallic hydrogen is a hypothetical substance characterized by the presence of free electrons and conducting electric current, as is typical for metals.

Moons of the planet Jupiter

The largest planet in the solar system has 16 natural satellites... Four of them, which Galileo spoke about, have their own unique world... One of them, the satellite of Io, has amazing landscapes of rocky rocks with real volcanoes on which the Galileo satellite, which studied the satellites, captured a volcanic eruption. The largest satellite in the solar system, Ganymede, although it is inferior in diameter to the satellites of Saturn, Titan and Neptune, Triton, has an ice crust that covers the surface of the satellite with a thickness of 100 km. There is an assumption that there is water under a thick layer of ice. Also, a hypothesis is put forward about the existence of an underground ocean on the Europa satellite, which also consists of a thick layer of ice, faults can be clearly traced in the images, as if from icebergs. And the most ancient inhabitant of the solar system can rightfully be considered the satellite of Jupiter Calisto, on its surface there are more craters than on any other surface of other objects in the solar system, and the surface has not changed much over the last billion years.

Jupiter the largest planet in our solar system, with four large satellites and many small satellites that form a kind of miniature solar system. Jupiter resembles a star in size, if it were about 80 times more massive, it would become a star, not a planet.

On January 7, 1610, using his primitive telescope, astronomer Galileo Galilei saw four small "stars" near Jupiter. So he discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter, which are called Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. These four moons are known today as the Galilean moons.

Currently, 50 satellites have been described for Jupiter.

Io is the most volcanically active body in ours.

Ganymede is the largest planetary satellite and the only one in the solar system that has its own magnetic field.

Oceans of liquid may lie beneath Europa's surface, icy oceans may also lie beneath the surfaces of Callisto and Ganymede.

Observing this planet, we can only see the surface of its atmosphere. The most visible clouds are composed of ammonia.

The water vapor is lower and can sometimes be seen as clear patches in the clouds.

"Stripes", dark belts and light zones create strong westerly winds in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter.

Discernible, even through a telescope, the Great Red Spot, a giant rotating cyclone that has been observed since the 1800s. V last years three cyclones merged into the Lesser Red Spot, which is half the size of the Great Red Spot.

Jupiter's atmosphere is similar in composition - mainly hydrogen and helium. Deep in the atmosphere, high pressure, temperature rise, the conversion of hydrogen to liquid.

At a depth of about one-third to the center of the planet, hydrogen becomes electrically conductive. In this layer, Jupiter's powerful magnetic field generates an electrical current that is driven by Jupiter's rapid rotation. In the center of the planet, a solid core can be supported by tremendous pressure, about the size of the Earth.

Jupiter's strongest magnetic field is nearly 20,000 times more powerful than Earth's. Inside the magnetosphere of Jupiter (the area in which the lines of force of the magnetic field surround the planet from pole to pole) are streams of charged particles.

Jupiter's rings and moons are located inside the radiation belt of electrons and ions trapped in a magnetic field.

In 1979, Voyager -1 discovered 3 rings around Jupiter. The two rings are composed of small, dark particles. The third ring, respectively, consists of 3 more rings, which include microscopic debris and three moons Amalthea, Thebe and Adrastea.

In December 1995, the Galileo spacecraft dropped a probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, which made the first direct measurements of the planet's atmosphere.

Moons of Jupiter

The planet Jupiter has four large moons, called the Galilean Moons, as they were discovered by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610.

German astronomer Simon Marius stated that he saw satellites at about the same time, but he did not publish his observations and thus Galileo Galilei is considered the discoverer.

These large moons are called: Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto.

Jupiter's moon Io

Surface And about covered with gray in various colorful forms.

Io moves in a slightly elliptical orbit, Jupiter's immense gravity causing "tides" in the solid surface of the moon, up to 100 m in height, producing enough energy for volcanic activity. Io's volcanoes erupt hot silicate magma.

Surfaces Europe consists mainly of water ice.

Europe is believed to have twice as much water as Earth. Astrobiologists put forward the theory that life on the planet is possible in a primitive form - in the form of bacteria, microbes.

Life forms have been found near underground volcanoes on Earth and in other extreme locations that may be analogous to what may exist in Europe.

Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system (larger than the planet Mercury), it is also the only satellite with a magnetic field.

Surface Callisto very heavily filled with craters, as evidence of the early history of the solar system. Several small craters are possibly active.

The planets Io, Europa and Ganymede have a layered structure (like the Earth).

Io has a core, mantle, partially molten rock, covered with rocks and sulfur compounds.

Europa and Ganymede have a core; a shell around the core; a thick, soft layer of ice; and a thin crust of ice water.

Orbit distance: 778,340,821 km (5.2028870 AU)
For comparison: 5.203 distances from the Sun to the Earth
Perihelion (closest orbital point to the Sun): 740 679 835 km (4.951 AU)
For comparison: 5.035 Sun-Earth distances
Apogelium (the farthest point of the orbit from the Sun): 816,001,807 km (5.455 AU)
For comparison: 5,365 Sun-Earth distances
Sidereal period of the orbit (length of the year): 11.862615 Earth years, 4 332.82 Earth days
Orbit circumference: 4887595931 km
For comparison: 5,200 earth orbit distances
average speed orbiting: 47,002 km / h
For comparison: 0.438 speed of movement in the Earth's orbit
Orbital eccentricity: 0.04838624
By comparison: 2.895 Earth's orbital eccentricity
Orbit inclination: 1.304 degrees
Jupiter's average radius: 69,911 km
For comparison: 10.9733 Earth radius
Equator length: 439,263.8 km
For comparison: 10.9733 the length of the Equator
Volume: 1 431 281 810 739 360 km 3
For comparison: 1321.337 volumes of the Earth
Weight: 1 898 130 000 000 000 000 000 000 kg
For comparison: 317.828 Earth masses
Density: 1.326 g / cm3
For comparison: 0.241 Earth density
Area, more: 61 418 738 571 km2
For comparison: 120.414 land areas
Surface gravity: 24.79 m / s2
Second space speed: 216 720 km / h
For comparison: 5.380 of the Earth's cosmic speed
Sidereal period of rotation (length of a day): 0.41354 Earth days
For comparison: 0.41467 is the period of the Earth's rotation
average temperature: -148 ° C

Jupiter, a large red spot just below the center.

Jupiter, like all giants, consists mainly of a mixture of gases. The gas giant is 2.5 times more massive than all the planets combined, or 317 times the size of Earth. There are many others interesting facts about the planet and we will try to tell them.

Jupiter from a distance of 600 million km. from the earth. Below you can see the trail from the fall of the asteroid.

As you know, Jupiter is the largest in the solar system and has 79 satellites. Several space probes have visited the planet and studied it from a flyby trajectory. And the Galileo spacecraft, having entered its orbit, studied it for several years. The most recent was the New Horizons probe. After flying over the planet, the probe received additional acceleration and headed towards its final destination - Pluto.

Jupiter has rings. They are not as big and beautiful as those of Saturn, because they are thinner and weaker. The Great Red Spot is a giant storm that has been raging for over three hundred years! Despite the fact that the planet Jupiter is truly huge in size, it did not have enough mass to become a full-fledged star.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of the planet is huge, its chemical composition it is 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. Unlike Earth, Jupiter is a gas giant and has no clear boundary between the atmosphere and the rest of the planet. If you could go down to the center of the planet, then the density and temperature of hydrogen and helium would begin to change. Scientists distinguish layers based on these features. Layers of the atmosphere in descending order from the core: troposphere, stratosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.

Animation of the rotation of the atmosphere of Jupiter, collected from 58 frames

Jupiter does not have a solid surface, therefore, for a certain conditional "surface", scientists determine lower bound its atmosphere at the point where the pressure is 1 bar. The temperature of the atmosphere at this point, like that of the Earth, decreases with height until it reaches a minimum. The tropopause defines the border between the troposphere and the stratosphere - it is about 50 km above the conventional "surface" of the planet.

Stratosphere

The stratosphere rises to an altitude of 320 km, and the pressure continues to decrease as the temperature rises. This height marks the boundary between the stratosphere and thermosphere. The temperature of the thermosphere rises to 1000 K at an altitude of 1000 km.

All the clouds and storms that we can see are located in the lower troposphere and are formed from ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and water. Essentially, the apparent topography of the surface forms the lower cloud layer. The top layer of clouds contains ammonia ice. The lower clouds are composed of ammonium hydrosulfide. Water forms clouds below dense cloud layers. The atmosphere gradually and smoothly turns into the ocean, which flows into metallic hydrogen.

The planet's atmosphere is the largest in the solar system and is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium.

Composition

Jupiter contains small amounts of compounds such as methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and water. This mix chemical compounds and elements contributes to the formation of colorful clouds that we can observe through telescopes. It is impossible to say unequivocally what color Jupiter is, but it is roughly reddish-white with stripes.

The ammonia clouds that are visible in the planet's atmosphere form a collection of parallel stripes. The dark stripes are called belts and alternate with the lighter ones, which are known as zones. These zones are thought to be composed of ammonia. It is not yet known what causes the dark color of the stripes.

Great red spot

You may have noticed that there are various ovals and circles in its atmosphere, the largest of which is the Great Red Spot. These are whirlwinds and storms that rage in an extremely volatile atmosphere. A vortex can be cyclonic or anticyclonic. Cyclonic vortices usually have centers at which the pressure is lower than outside. Anticyclonic ones are those that have centers with a higher pressure than outside the vortex.

Jupiter's Great Red Spot (BKP) is an atmospheric storm that has been raging in the Southern Hemisphere for 400 years. Many believe that Giovanni Cassini first observed it in the late 1600s, but scientists doubt that it formed at that time.

About 100 years ago, this storm was over 40,000 km across. Currently, its size is being reduced. At the current rate of decline, it could be circular by 2040. Scientists doubt that this will happen, because the influence of neighboring jet streams could completely change the picture. It is not yet known how long it will take to resize.

What is BKP?

The Great Red Spot is an anticyclonic storm, and since we have seen it, it has retained its shape for several centuries. It is so huge that it can be observed even from terrestrial telescopes. Scientists have yet to figure out what causes its reddish color.

Small Red Spot

Another large red spot was found in 2000 and has been growing steadily since then. Like the Great Red Spot, it is also anticyclonic. Because of its similarity to the BKP, this red spot (which bears the official name Oval) is often referred to as the "Little Red Spot" or "Little Red Spot".

Unlike eddies, which persist for a long time, storms are more short-lived. Many of them can last for several months, but, on average, they last for 4 days. The onset of storms in the atmosphere culminates every 15-17 years. Storms are accompanied by lightning, just like on Earth.

Rotation of the BKP

The BKP rotates counterclockwise and makes a complete revolution every six Earth days. The period of rotation of the spot has decreased. Some believe that this is the result of its compression. Winds at the very edge of the storm reach speeds of 432 km / h. The spot is large enough to swallow three Earths. Infrared data show that the BKP is colder and at a higher elevation than most other clouds. The edges of the storm rise about 8 km above the surrounding cloud tops. Its position shifts to the east and west quite often. The spot has crossed the planet's belts at least 10 times since the early 19th century. And the speed of its drift changed dramatically over the years, it was associated with the Southern Equatorial Belt.

BKP color

BKP snapshot of Voyager

It is not known exactly what causes this Great Red Spot color. The most popular theory, supported by laboratory experiments, is that the color can be caused by complex organic molecules such as red phosphorus or sulfur compounds. The BCP varies greatly in color from almost brick red to light red and white. The red center area is 4 degrees warmer than the environment, which is considered proof that environmental factors influence the color.

As you can see, the red spot is a rather mysterious object; it is the subject of a large future study. Scientists hope they can better understand our giant neighbor, as the planet Jupiter and the Great Red Spot are some of the greatest mysteries of our solar system.

Why is Jupiter not a star

It lacks the mass and heat required to start fusing hydrogen atoms into helium, so it cannot become a star. Scientists have calculated that Jupiter must increase its current mass by about 80 times in order to ignite thermonuclear fusion. But nevertheless, the planet generates heat due to gravitational compression. This shrinkage is what ultimately heats up the planet.

Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism

This production of heat in excess of what it absorbs from the Sun is called the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism. This mechanism takes place when the planet's surface cools, which causes a drop in pressure and the body shrinks. Compression (contraction) heats up the core. Scientists have calculated that Jupiter emits more energy than it receives from the Sun. Saturn shows the same heating mechanism, but not so much. Brown dwarf stars also show the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism. The mechanism was originally proposed by Kelvin and Helmholtz to explain the energy of the sun. One of the consequences of this law is that the sun must have an energy source that allows it to shine for more than a few million years. Nuclear reactions were not known at the time, so the source Solar energy gravitational compression was considered. This was the case until the 1930s, when Hans Bethe proved that the energy of the Sun is obtained from nuclear fusion and lasts for billions of years.

Related to this is a question that is often asked: can Jupiter acquire enough mass in the near future to become a star. All the planets dwarf planets and asteroids in the solar system cannot give it the amount of mass it needs, even if it swallows up everything in the solar system except the sun. Thus, he will never become a star.

Let's hope that the JUNO mission, which will arrive on the planet by 2016, will provide specific information about the planet on most issues of interest to scientists.

Weight on Jupiter

If you're worried about your weight, consider that Jupiter has much more mass than Earth and its gravity is much stronger. By the way, on the planet Jupiter, gravity is 2.528 times more intense than on Earth. This means that if you weigh 100 kg on Earth, then your weight on the gas giant will be 252.8 kg.

Since its gravity is so intense, it has quite a few moons, or rather as many as 67 satellites, and their number can change at any moment.

Rotation

Atmosphere rotation animation made from Voyager snapshots

Our gas giant is the fastest rotating planet of all in the solar system, it makes one revolution on its axis every 9.9 hours. Unlike the inner planets of the Terrestrial group, Jupiter is a ball made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. Unlike Mars or Mercury, it does not have a surface to track to measure its rotational speed, nor does it have craters or mountains that appear after a certain amount of time.

Influence of rotation on the size of the planet

Rapid rotation results in a difference in equatorial and polar radii. Instead of looking like a sphere, due to its rapid rotation, the planet looks like a crushed ball. The bulge of the equator is visible even with small amateur telescopes.

The planet's polar radius is 66,800 km, and the equatorial radius is 71,500 km. In other words, the equatorial radius of the planet is 4700 km larger than the polar one.

Rotation characteristics

Despite the fact that the planet is a ball of gas, it rotates differentially. That is, the rotation takes a different amount of time depending on where you are. The rotation at its poles takes 5 minutes longer than at the equator. Therefore, the often mentioned rotation period of 9.9 hours is, in fact, the average amount for the entire planet.

Rotation reference systems

Scientists actually use three different systems to calculate the rotation of a planet. The first system for latitude 10 degrees north and south of the equator - rotation in 9 hours 50 minutes. The second, for latitudes north and south of this region, where the rotation speed is 9 hours 55 minutes. These indicators are measured for a specific storm that is in sight. The third system measures the rotational speed of the magnetosphere and is generally considered the official rotational speed.

Planet gravity and comet

In the 1990s, Jupiter's gravity tore apart Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and its debris fell onto the planet. This was the first time that we had the opportunity to observe the collision of two extraterrestrial bodies in the solar system. Why did Jupiter pull the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet to itself, you ask?

The comet had the imprudence to fly in the immediate vicinity of the giant, and its powerful gravity pulled it towards itself due to the fact that Jupiter is the most massive in the solar system. The planet captured the comet about 20-30 years before the collision, and it has been orbiting the giant ever since. In 1992, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 entered the Roche Limit and was torn apart by the planet's tidal forces. The comet resembled a string of pearls when its fragments crashed into the planet's cloudy layer on July 16-22, 1994. Fragments up to 2 km in size each entered the atmosphere at a speed of 60 km / s. This collision allowed astronomers to make several new discoveries about the planet.

What the collision with the planet gave

Astronomers, thanks to the collision, discovered several chemicals in the atmosphere that were not known before the impact. Diatomic sulfur and carbon disulfide were the most interesting. This was only the second time that diatomic sulfur was discovered on celestial bodies. It was then that ammonia and hydrogen sulfide were first discovered at the gas giant. Images from Voyager 1 showed the giant in a whole new light, as information from Pioneer 10 and 11 was not so informative, and all subsequent missions were built on the basis of data received by Voyagers.

Collision of an asteroid with a planet

Short description

The influence of Jupiter on all planets is manifested in one form or another. It is strong enough to rip apart asteroids and hold 79 satellites. Some scientists believe that such a large planet could have destroyed many celestial objects in the past, and also prevented the formation of other planets.

Jupiter requires more research than scientists can afford, and astronomers are interested in it for many reasons. Its companions are the main gems for explorers. The planet has 79 satellites, which is actually 40% of all satellites in our solar system. Some of these moons are larger than some dwarf planets and contain underground oceans.

Structure

Internal structure

Jupiter has a core that contains some rock and metallic hydrogen, which takes on this unusual shape under enormous pressure.

Recent evidence indicates that the giant contains a dense core, which is believed to be surrounded by a layer of liquid metallic hydrogen and helium, and the outer layer is dominated by molecular hydrogen. Gravitational measurements indicate a core mass between 12 and 45 Earth masses. This means that the core of the planet is about 3-15% of the total mass of the planet.

Formation of a giant

In early evolutionary history, Jupiter must have formed entirely of rock and ice with sufficient mass to capture most of the gases in the early solar nebula. Therefore, its composition is completely identical to the mixture of gases of the protosolar nebula.

Current theory holds that the main layer of dense metallic hydrogen extends 78 percent of the planet's radius. An inner atmosphere of hydrogen extends directly above the layer of metallic hydrogen. In it, hydrogen is at such a temperature when there is no clear liquid and gas phases, in fact, it is in a supercritical liquid state. Temperature and pressure rise steadily as it approaches the core. In the region where hydrogen becomes metallic, it is assumed that the temperature is 10,000 K and the pressure is 200 GPa. The maximum temperature at the core boundary is estimated at 36,000 K with a corresponding pressure of 3000 to 4500 GPa.

Temperature

Its temperature, given how far away it is from the Sun, is much colder than on Earth.

The outer edges of Jupiter's atmosphere are much colder than the central region. The temperature in the atmosphere is -145 degrees Celsius, and the intense atmospheric pressure increases the temperature as you descend. Having plunged several hundred kilometers into the interior of the planet, hydrogen becomes its main component, it is hot enough to turn into liquid (since the pressure is high). The temperature at this point is believed to be over 9,700 C. The layer of dense metallic hydrogen extends to 78% of the planet's radius. Near the very center of the planet, scientists believe that temperatures can reach 35,500 C. Between the cold clouds and the molten lower regions is an inner atmosphere of hydrogen. In the internal atmosphere, the temperature of hydrogen is such that it does not have a boundary between the liquid and gas phases.

The molten interior of the planet heats the rest of the planet by convection, so the giant generates more heat than it receives from the sun. Storms and high winds mix cold air and warm air just like on Earth. The Galileo spacecraft observed winds with a speed of over 600 km per hour. One of the differences from the Earth is that there are jet streams on the planet that control storms and winds, they are set in motion by the planet's own heat.

Is there life on the planet?

As you can see from the data above, the physical conditions on Jupiter are pretty harsh. Some wonder if the planet Jupiter is inhabited, is there life? But we will disappoint you: without a solid surface, the presence of tremendous pressure, the simplest atmosphere, radiation and low temperature - life on the planet is impossible. The subglacial oceans of its satellites are another matter, but this is a topic for another article. In fact, the planet cannot support life or contribute to its origin, according to modern views on this issue.

Distance to Sun and Earth

The distance to the Sun at perihelion (closest point) is 741 million km, or 4.95 astronomical units (AU). At aphelion (the most distant point) - 817 million km, or 5.46 AU. From this it follows that the semi-major axis is equal to 778 million km, or 5.2 AU. with an eccentricity of 0.048. Remember that one astronomical unit (AU) is equal to the average distance from the Earth to the Sun.

Orbital period

The planet needs 11.86 Earth years (4331 days) to complete one revolution around the Sun. The planet rushes in its orbit at a speed of 13 km / s. Its orbit is slightly tilted (about 6.09 °) compared to the plane of the ecliptic (solar equator). Despite the fact that Jupiter is quite far from the Sun, it is the only celestial body that has a common center of mass with the Sun, which is outside the Sun's radius. The gas giant has a slight axis tilt of 3.13 degrees, which means there is no noticeable change of seasons on the planet.

Jupiter and Earth

When Jupiter and Earth are closest to each other, they are 628.74 million kilometers apart. outer space... At the most distant point from each other, they are separated by 928.08 million km. In astronomical units, these distances range from 4.2 to 6.2 AU.

All planets move in elliptical orbits, when the planet is closer to the Sun, this part of the orbit is called perihelion. When next - aphelion. The difference between perihelion and aphelion determines how eccentric the orbit is. Jupiter and Earth have two of the least eccentric orbits in our solar system.

Some scientists believe that Jupiter's gravity creates tidal effects that can cause an increase in the number of sunspots on the Sun. If Jupiter approached the Earth for a couple of hundred million kilometers, then the Earth would not be sweet under the influence of the giant's powerful gravity. It is easy to see how it can cause tidal effects when you consider that its mass is 318 times that of the Earth. Fortunately, Jupiter is at a respectful distance from us, without causing inconvenience and at the same time protecting us from comets, attracting them to itself.

Position in the sky and observation

In fact, the gas giant is the third brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus. If you want to know where the planet Jupiter is in the sky, then most often it is closer to the zenith. In order not to confuse it with Venus, keep in mind that it does not move further than 48 degrees from the Sun, therefore it does not rise very high.

Mars and Jupiter are also two fairly bright objects, especially in opposition, but Mars gives off a reddish tint, so it is difficult to confuse them. They can both be in opposition (closest to Earth), so either focus on color or use binoculars. Saturn, despite the similarity in structure, is quite different in brightness, due to the large distance, so it is difficult to confuse them. With a small telescope at your disposal, Jupiter will appear to you in all its glory. When observing it, 4 small dots (Galilean satellites) that surround the planet are immediately striking. Jupiter looks like a striped ball through a telescope, and even a small instrument shows its oval shape.

Being in the sky

Using a computer, it is not at all difficult to find it; the common Stellarium program is suitable for these purposes. If you do not know what kind of object you are observing, then knowing the cardinal points, your location and time, the Stellarium program will give you the answer.

When observing it, we have an amazing opportunity to see such unusual phenomena as the passage of shadows of satellites across the disk of the planet or an eclipse of a satellite by the planet, in general, look into the sky more often, there is a lot of interesting and successful search for Jupiter! To make it easier to navigate astronomical events, use.

A magnetic field

The Earth's magnetic field is created by its core and dynamo effect. Jupiter's magnetic field is truly great strength... Scientists believe that it has a rock / metal core, and thanks to this, the planet has a magnetic field that is 14 times stronger than that of the Earth and contains 20,000 times more energy. Astronomers believe that the magnetic field is generated by metallic hydrogen near the center of the planet. This magnetic field traps ionized particles in the solar wind and accelerates them to near the speed of light.

Magnetic field voltage

The gas giant's magnetic field is the most powerful in our solar system. It varies from 4.2 gauss (a unit of magnetic induction is equal to one ten-thousandth of a tesla) at the equator, to 14 gauss at the poles. The magnetosphere extends seven million kilometers towards the Sun and the edge of Saturn's orbit.

The form

The planet's magnetic field resembles a donut (toroid) and contains the huge equivalents of the Van Allen belts on Earth. These belts are a trap for high-energy charged particles (mainly protons and electrons). The rotation of the field corresponds to the rotation of the planet and is approximately equal to 10 hours. Some of Jupiter's moons interact with a magnetic field, most notably Io.

It has several active volcanoes on surfaces that spew gas and volcanic particles into space. These particles eventually diffuse into the rest of the space surrounding the planet and become the main source of charged particles trapped in Jupiter's magnetic field.

The planet's radiation belts are a torus of energetic charged particles (plasma). They are held in place by a magnetic field. Most of the particles that form the belts come from the solar wind and cosmic rays. The belts are located in the inner region of the magnetosphere. There are several different belts containing electrons and protons. In addition, the radiation belts contain smaller amounts of other nuclei, as well as alpha particles. Belts pose a hazard to spacecraft, which must protect their sensitive components with adequate shielding if they travel through radiation belts. The radiation belts around Jupiter are very strong and the spacecraft that flies through them needs additional special protection to preserve sensitive electronics.

Auroras on the planet

X-ray

The planet's magnetic field creates some of the most spectacular and active auroras in the solar system.

On Earth, auroras are caused by charged particles ejected from solar storms. Some are created in the same way, but he has a different way of receiving radiance. The planet's rapid rotation, intense magnetic field and an abundant source of particles from the volcanic active moon Io create a huge reservoir of electrons and ions.

Patera Tupana - volcano on Io

These charged particles, captured by the magnetic field, are constantly accelerated and enter the atmosphere over the polar regions, where they collide with gases. As a result of such collisions, auroras are obtained, which we cannot observe on Earth.

Jupiter's magnetic fields are believed to interact with almost every body in the solar system.

How the length of the day was calculated

Scientists calculated the length of a day from the planet's rotation rate. And the earliest attempts were to observe storms. Scientists found a suitable storm and by measuring its speed of rotation around the planet, they got an idea of ​​the length of the day. The problem was that storms on Jupiter change at a very fast pace, making them inaccurate sources of the planet's rotation. After radio emission from the planet was detected, scientists calculated the planet's rotation period and its speed. While in different parts the planet rotates at different speeds, the rotation speed of the magnetosphere remains unchanged and is used as the official speed of the planet.

Origin of the name of the planet

The planet has been known since ancient times and was named after a Roman god. The planet had many names at the time and received the most attention throughout the history of the Roman Empire. The Romans named the planet after their king of the gods, Jupiter, who was also the god of sky and thunder.

In Roman mythology

In the Roman pantheon, Jupiter was the god of the sky and was the central god in the Capitoline Triad along with Juno and Minerva. He remained the main official deity of Rome throughout the republican and imperial eras, until the pagan system was replaced by Christianity. He personified divine power and high positions in Rome, the internal organization for external relations: his image in the republican and imperial palace meant a lot. The Roman consuls swore allegiance to Jupiter. To thank him for his help and to enlist his continued support, they prayed to a statue of a bull with gilded horns.

How planets are named

Photo of the Cassini apparatus (to the left - the shadow from the Europa satellite)

It is a common practice for planets, moons, and many other celestial bodies to be given names from Greek and Roman mythology, as well as a specific astronomical symbol. Some examples: Neptune is the god of the sea, Mars is the god of war, Mercury is the messenger, Saturn is the God of Time and the father of Jupiter, Uranus is the father of Saturn, Venus is the goddess of love and the Earth, and the Earth is only a planet, this is contrary to the Greco-Roman tradition. We hope that the origin of the name of the planet Jupiter will no longer cause you any questions.

Opening

Were you curious to know who discovered the planet? Unfortunately, there is no reliable way to know how and by whom it was discovered. It is one of the 5 planets visible to the naked eye. If you go outside and see a bright star in the sky, it probably is. its brightness is brighter than any star, only Venus is brighter than it. Thus, the ancient people knew about it for several thousand years and there is no way to know when the first person noticed this planet.

Maybe a better question to ask when we realized that Jupiter is a planet? In ancient times, astronomers thought that the Earth was the center of the universe. It was a geocentric model of the world. The sun, moon, planets and even stars all revolved around the earth. But there was one thing that was difficult to explain, this strange movement of the planets. They moved in one direction, and then stopped and moved back, the so-called retrograde motion... Astronomers created more and more sophisticated models to explain these strange movements.

Copernicus and the heliocentric model of the world

In the 1500s, Nicolaus Copernicus developed his model of a heliocentric model of the solar system, where the sun became the center and the planets, including the earth, revolved around it. This nicely explained the strange movements of the planets in the sky.

The first person who actually saw Jupiter was Galileo, and he succeeded with the help of the first telescope in history. Even with his imperfect telescope, he was able to see stripes on the planet and 4 large Galilean moons that were named after him.

Subsequently, using large telescopes, astronomers were able to see more detailed information about Jupiter's clouds and learn more about its moons. But scientists really studied it with the beginning of the space age. NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft was the first probe to fly past Jupiter in 1973. He passed at a distance of 34,000 km from the clouds.

Weight

Its weight is 1.9 x 10 * 27 kg. It is difficult to fully understand how large this figure is. The mass of the planet is 318 times the mass of the Earth. It is 2.5 times more massive than all other planets in our solar system combined.

The mass of the planet is not sufficient for sustainable nuclear fusion. Fusion requires high temperatures and intense gravitational compression. There is a large amount of hydrogen on the planet, but the planet is too cold and not massive enough for a sustained fusion reaction. Scientists estimate that it needs 80 times more mass to ignite fusion.

Characteristic

The volume of the planet is 1.43128 10 * 15 km3. That's enough to fit 1,321 Earth-sized objects inside the planet, with little room left.

The surface area is 6.21796 by 10 * 10 to 2. And just for comparison, this is 122 times the surface area of ​​the Earth.

Surface

Photo of Jupiter taken in the infrared range with the VLT telescope

If the spacecraft descended under the planet's clouds, it would see a cloudy layer consisting of ammonia crystals, with admixtures of ammonium hydrosulfide. These clouds are in the tropopause and are divided by color into zones and dark belts. In the atmosphere of the giant, the wind is raging at a speed of over 360 km / h. The entire atmosphere is constantly bombarded by excited particles of the magnetosphere and material erupted by volcanoes on Io's satellite. Lightning is observed in the atmosphere. Just a few kilometers below the conventional surface of the planet, any spacecraft will be crushed by the monstrous pressure.

The cloud layer extends 50 km in depth and contains a thin layer of water clouds beneath the ammonia layer. This assumption is based on lightning flashes. Lightning is caused by the different polarities of the water, which makes it possible to create the static electricity needed to form lightning. Lightning can be a thousand times more powerful than our Earthly ones.

Age of the planet

The exact age of the planet is difficult to determine because we do not know exactly how Jupiter formed. We do not have rock samples for chemical analysis, or rather they do not exist at all, because the planet is entirely composed of gases. When did the planet come into being? There is an opinion among scientists that Jupiter, like all planets, was formed in the solar nebula about 4.6 billion years ago.

The theory states that Big Bang happened about 13.7 billion years ago. Scientists believe that our solar system was formed when a cloud of gas and dust in space was formed by a supernova explosion. After the supernova explosion, a wave was formed in space, which created pressure in the clouds of gas and dust. Compression caused the cloud to contract, and the more it compressed, the more gravity accelerated this process. The cloud swirled, and a hotter and denser core grew in its center.

How it was formed

Mosaic consisting of 27 pictures

As a result of accretion, the particles began to stick together and form clumps. Some clumps were larger than others, as less massive particles adhered to them, forming planets, satellites and other objects in our solar system. By studying the meteorites left over from the early stages of the solar system's existence, scientists have found that they are about 4.6 billion years old.

It is believed that the gas giants were the first to form and had the opportunity to overgrow large amounts of hydrogen and helium. These gases existed in the solar nebula for the first few million years before being absorbed. This means that gas giants may be slightly older than Earth. So how many billions of years ago Jupiter appeared has yet to be clarified.

Colour

Many images of Jupiter show that it reflects many shades of white, red, orange, brown and yellow. Jupiter's color changes with storms and winds in the planet's atmosphere.

The color of the planet is very variegated, it is created by different chemicals reflecting the light of the sun. Most of the clouds in the atmosphere are composed of crystals of ammonia, with admixtures of water ice and ammonium hydrosulfide. Powerful storms on the planet are formed due to convection in the atmosphere. This allows storms to lift up substances such as phosphorus, sulfur and hydrocarbons from deeper layers, resulting in the white, brown and red spots that we see in the atmosphere.

Scientists use the color of the planet to understand how the atmosphere works. Future missions such as Juno plan to bring a deeper understanding of the processes in the giant's gas envelope. Future missions are also going to study the interaction of Io's volcanoes with water ice in Europa.

Radiation

Cosmic radiation is one of the biggest challenges for exploration probes exploring many planets. Until now, Jupiter is the biggest threat to any ship within 300,000 km of the planet.

Jupiter is surrounded by intense radiation belts that will easily destroy all onboard electronics if the ship is not properly protected. Electrons accelerated to almost the speed of light surround it from all sides. Earth has similar radiation belts called the Van Allen belts.

The giant's magnetic field is 20,000 stronger than that of Earth. The Galileo spacecraft measured the activity of radio waves inside Jupiter's magnetosphere for eight years. According to him, short radio waves may be responsible for the excitation of electrons in radiation belts. The planet's shortwave radio emission comes from the interaction of volcanoes on Io's moon, combined with the planet's rapid rotation. Volcanic gases ionize and leave the satellite under the action of centrifugal force. This material forms an internal stream of particles that excite radio waves in the planet's magnetosphere.

1. The planet is very massive

Jupiter's mass is 318 times that of Earth. And it is 2.5 times the mass of all the other planets in the solar system combined.

2. Jupiter will never become a star

Astronomers call Jupiter a failed star, but this is not entirely appropriate. It's like a skyscraper has failed out of your house. Stars generate their energy by fusing hydrogen atoms. Their enormous pressure in the center creates heat and hydrogen atoms fuse together to create helium, while releasing heat. Jupiter will need more than 80 times its current mass to ignite thermonuclear fusion.

3. Jupiter is the fastest rotating planet in the solar system

Despite all its size and mass, it rotates very quickly. The planet takes only about 10 hours to complete a complete revolution on its axis. Because of this, its shape is slightly convex at the equator.

The radius of the planet Jupiter at the equator is more than 4600 km away from the center than at the poles. This rapid rotation also helps generate a powerful magnetic field.

4. Clouds on Jupiter are only 50 km thick.

All these beautiful clouds and storms that you see on Jupiter are only about 50 km thick. They are made of ammonia crystals and are split into two levels. The darker ones are believed to be composed of compounds that have risen from deeper layers, and then change the color to the Sun. Beneath these clouds is an ocean of hydrogen and helium all the way to the layer of metallic hydrogen.

A large red spot. Composite image RBG + IR and UV. Amateur processing by Mike Malaska.

The Great Red Spot is one of its most famous planetary features. And it looks like it has been around for 350-400 years already. It was first identified by Giovanni Cassini, who noted it back in 1665. A century ago, the Great Red Spot was 40,000 km across, but it has now shrunk in half.

6. The planet has rings

The rings around Jupiter were the third found in the solar system, after Saturn (of course) and Uranus.

A snapshot of Jupiter's ring captured by the New Horizons probe

Jupiter's rings are faint, and are likely composed of material ejected from its moons when they collided with meteorites and comets.

7. Jupiter's magnetic field is 14 times stronger than Earth's

Astronomers believe that the magnetic field is created by the movement of metallic hydrogen deep within the planet. This magnetic field traps ionized particles in the solar wind and accelerates them to near the speed of light. These particles create dangerous radiation belts around Jupiter that can damage spacecraft.

8.Jupiter has 67 moons

As of 2014, Jupiter has a total of 67 satellites. Almost all of them are less than 10 kilometers in diameter and were only discovered after 1975, when the first spacecraft arrived on the planet.

One of its moons, Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system and measures 5,262 km across.

9. Jupiter visited 7 different spaceships from Earth

Images of Jupiter taken by six spacecraft (there is no photo from Willis, due to the fact that there were no cameras)

Jupiter first visited NASA's Pioneer 10 probe in December 1973, followed by Pioneer 11 in December 1974. After Voyager 1 and 2 probes in 1979. A long hiatus followed until the Ulysses spacecraft arrived in February 1992. After the interplanetary station Cassini flew in 2000, on its way to Saturn. Finally, the New Horizons probe flew past the giant in 2007. The next visit is scheduled for 2016, the planet will be explored by the device Juno (Juno)

Gallery of drawings dedicated to Voyager's voyage

10. You can see Jupiter with your own eyes

Jupiter is the third brightest object in Earth's night sky, after Venus and the Moon. Most likely, you saw a gas giant in the sky, but had no idea that it was Jupiter. Note that if you see a very bright star high in the sky, it is most likely Jupiter. In essence, these facts are about Jupiter for children, but for most of us who have completely forgotten school course astronomy, this information about the planet will be very useful.

Journey to the Planet Jupiter popular science film

The planet Jupiter is the largest gas giant in the solar system. Its mass exceeds the mass of all other objects in our system combined. Therefore, it is not for nothing that the giant was named after the supreme god of the ancient Roman pantheon.

Photo taken 04/21/2014 Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

Jupiter is the fifth planet in the solar system. On its surface, giant hurricanes are constantly raging, one of which exceeds the size of the Earth in diameter. Another record for the planet is the number of its satellites, of which only 79 have been discovered so far. Its unique features made it one of the most interesting objects in the solar system to observe.

History of discovery and research

Observations of the gas giant have been carried out since ancient times. The Sumerians called the planet "white star". Astronomers ancient China described the movement of the planet in detail, and the Incas observed the satellites, calling it a "barn". The Romans named the planet in honor of the supreme deity and father of all ancient Roman gods.

First saw the planet through a telescope Galileo Galilei. He also discovered 4 of the largest moons of Jupiter. Observations of the planet and its satellites also helped medieval astronomers calculate the approximate speed of light.

The gas giant began to actively study in the 20th century after the appearance of interplanetary stations and space telescopes... It is noteworthy that all spacecraft launched to it belong to NASA. The first high-resolution images of the planet were taken by Voyager interplanetary vehicles. The first orbiting satellite, the Galileo spacecraft, helped to establish the composition of the Jupiterian atmosphere and the dynamics of processes inside it, as well as obtain new information about the natural satellites of the gas giant. The Interplanetary Station Juno, launched in 2011, is studying Jupiter's poles. In the near future, it is planned to launch American-European and Russian-European interplanetary missions in order to study the fifth planet from the Sun and its many satellites.

General information about Jupiter

The size of the planet is truly impressive. The diameter of Jupiter is almost 11 times larger than that of the Earth and is 140 thousand km. The mass of the gas giant is 1.9 * 10 27, which is more than the total mass of all other planets, satellites and asteroids of the solar system. The surface area of ​​Jupiter is 6.22 * 10 10 square kilometers. To realize all the greatness of the giant, it is worthwhile to understand that only in the Great Red Spot in its atmosphere 2 such planets as the Earth can fit.

Its other unique feature is the number of satellites. At the moment, 79 of them have been studied, but, according to researchers, total number Jupiter's moons are not less than a hundred. All of them are named after the heroes of ancient Roman and ancient Greek myths associated with the most powerful god in the pantheon. For example, Io and Europa are satellites named after the lovers of the ancient Greek god of thunder. In addition to satellites, the planet has a system of planetary rings called the Rings of Jupiter.

The largest planet in the solar system is also the oldest. Jupiter's core formed over a million years after the formation of our system. While solid objects slowly formed from dust and protoplanetary debris, the gas giant rapidly expanded to its enormous size. Due to its intense accretion, the planetary giant prevented the penetration additional material to build the entire stellar system, which explains the small size of objects inside it.

Orbit and radius

The average distance from the planet to the central star of our system is 780 million km. Jupiter's orbit is not very eccentric - 0.049.

Moving with an average orbital speed of 13 km / s, it makes a revolution in its orbit in 11.9 years. At the same time, it is not characterized by a change of seasons - the inclination of the rotation axis to the orbit is only 3.1 °. Jupiter rotates around its axis at a very high speed and makes a full revolution in 9 hours 55 minutes. The day on the planet is considered the shortest in the entire solar system.

physical characteristics

The main parameters of the second largest object in the solar system:

• The average radius of Jupiter is 69.9 thousand km.
• Weight - 1.9 * 10 27 kg.
• The average density is 1.33 g / cc. cm, which is approximately equal to the density of the Sun.
• Acceleration free fall at the equator - 24.8 m / s 2. This means that Jupiter's gravity is almost 2.5 times that of Earth.

Jupiter structure

• The atmosphere has a three-layer structure: the outer purely hydrogen layer, then the hydrogen-helium layer (gas ratio 9: 1) and the lower layer of ammonia and water clouds.
• Hydrogen mantle up to 50 thousand km deep.
• A solid core with a mass 10 times that of the Earth.

At the moment it is impossible to reliably determine the chemical composition of the planet. It is known that its main components are hydrogen and helium, which transform their gaseous state into a liquid state. In addition to them, the atmosphere of the planet contains many simple substances and inert gases. Compounds of phosphorus and sulfur give the characteristic color of the Jupiterian gas shell.

Atmosphere and climate

The hydrogen-helium atmosphere smoothly transforms into the liquid hydrogen mantle, without a delineated lower boundary.

The lower layer of the Jupiterian atmosphere - the troposphere - is characterized by complex structure clouds. The upper clouds are composed of ammonia ice and ammonium sulfide, followed by a dense layer of water clouds. The temperature in the troposphere decreases with an increase in altitude from 340 to 110K. The stratosphere gradually heats up to 200K, and the maximum temperature value (1000K) is recorded in the thermosphere. The average temperature of Jupiter cannot be calculated due to the lack of a solid surface. Its atmosphere is bordered by a boiling ocean of liquid hydrogen. The core of the planet warms up to 35 thousand degrees Celsius, which is higher than the temperature of the Sun.

The pressure of the gas envelope tends to decrease with distance from the hydrogen ocean. At the lower level of the troposphere, it reaches 10 bar, then in the thermosphere the pressure drops to 1 nanobar.

There is no good weather on the giant. Thermal energy coming from the core turns the planet's atmosphere into one huge vortex. Jupiter's winds reach speeds of 2160 km / h. The most famous hurricane in the planet's atmosphere is the Great Red Spot. It has been going on for more than 300 years, and its area at the moment is 40 * 13 thousand km. At the same time, the speed of air flows reaches more than 500 m / s. Jupiterian vortices of lightning are accompanied by a length of several thousand kilometers and a power many times greater than the earth's.

Diamond showers periodically occur in the Jupiterian atmosphere. Precious carbon deposits are released from methane vapors during a lightning strike due to the heat and pressure in the upper atmosphere.

Relief

The surface of Jupiter is a misnomer. The hydrogen-helium atmosphere smoothly transforms into the mantle, which is an ocean of metallic hydrogen. The mantle continues to a depth of 45 thousand km, and then the core follows, tens of times heavier than the Earth and several times hotter than the Sun.

Rings

Jupiter's rings are faint and composed of dust from colliding satellites.

The ring system has the following structure:

• a halo ring, which is a thick layer of dust;
• thin and bright main ring;
• 2 outer spider rings.

The main thing and the halo rings were formed from dust from the moons of Metis and Adrasteus, and the spider rings of Jupiter were formed thanks to Almatea and Thebes.

According to hypothetical data, there is another thin and faint ring near the satellites of the Himalayas, which arose after its collision with a smaller satellite.

Moons of Jupiter

In total, the planet has more than a hundred satellites, of which only 79 have been discovered. They are subdivided into internal, the number of which is 8, and external (currently 71). The largest Jupiterian moons are united in a group called the Galilean moons, because they were discovered by Galileo Galilei. This group includes, and.

Europe is a huge subglacial ocean. On this satellite, life is theoretically possible, tk. there may be oxygen under the ice shell.

Io, like her planetary host , does not have a clearly defined surface. This moon is flooded with lava from two of the most powerful volcanoes. From this he acquired a yellow color with spots of brown, brown and red colors.

Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter and the entire solar system. It consists of mineral salts of silicic acids and ice, and also has its own magnetosphere and thin atmosphere. Ganymede is also larger than the smallest planet in the solar system (5262 km versus 4879 km).

Callisto is the second largest satellite of the giant. Its surface is composed of silicates, ice and organic compounds. The atmosphere is carbon dioxide with minor impurities of other gases. Callisto is pitted with large impact craters, which gives it a characteristic relief.

Planet Jupiter interesting facts

• No spacecraft can operate near the giant's orbit because of the powerful radiation belts.
• With its powerful gravitational field, it protects the planets of the inner group, including the Earth, from comets and asteroids arriving from outside.
• To visually compare the sizes of the Earth and the fifth planet, put a basketball next to a five-kopeck coin.
• In theory, a person weighing 80 kg on Jupiter's surface would weigh 192 kg. This is due to the fact that the gas giant's gravity is 2.4 times that of Earth.
• If, at the time of formation, it could increase its mass 80 times more than the current one, a second star would appear in the solar system. She would be classified as a brown dwarf.
• The largest planet in the solar system emits the most powerful radio waves. They can even be picked up by shortwave antennas on Earth. They transform into a rather unusual audio signal, which some people mistake for signals from aliens.
• The average flight duration to the gas giant is 5 years. AMS "New Horizons" faster than all other probes covered the distance to Jupiter's orbit. It took her a little over a year to do this.