#Jupiter hell distance explanation series#

Most of the clouds on Jupiter are made of ammonia. To show the difference the strongest tropical storms on Earth are about 100 km/h. Wind speeds of 360 kilometres per hour (km/h) are common on Jupiter. The zones and belts often interact with each other. The light parts are zones and the darker are belts. Jupiter has many bands of clouds going horizontally across its surface. In other words, 1,317 Earth-sized objects could fit inside it. The volume of Jupiter is 1,317 times the volume of Earth. Jupiter is 11 times the width of Earth and 318 times as massive. It gives off more heat than it gets from the sun. Jupiter is twice as massive as all the other planets in the Solar System put together. The planet Jupiter is sometimes called a failed star because it is made of the same elements (hydrogen and helium) as is the Sun, but it is not large enough to have the internal pressure and temperature necessary to cause hydrogen to fuse to helium, the energy source that powers the sun and most other stars. The pressure is high enough to make the hydrogen solid, but then it melts because of the heat. The outer core of Jupiter is thick, liquid hydrogen. This cannot be found out, because it is not possible to create the same amount of pressure on Earth.Ībove the unknown inner core is an outer core. The very high temperatures and pressures in Jupiter's core mean scientists cannot tell what materials are there. Those two planets have much less hydrogen and helium gas. Based on spectroscopy, Jupiter seems to be made of the same gases as Saturn. The lower atmosphere is so heated and the pressure so high that helium changes to liquid. The atmosphere near the surface of Jupiter is about 88 to 92% hydrogen, 8 to 12% helium, and 1% other gases. It is larger in diameter than Mercury.Ī picture by an artist of the Voyager 1 spacecraft that flew past Jupiter in 1979. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System. They are called the Galilean moons, because Galileo Galilei discovered them.

The four largest moons of Jupiter are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. About 50 of them are very small and less than five kilometres wide. Only the Earth's moon and Venus are brighter. Jupiter is the third brightest object in the night sky. The ancient Romans named the planet after their King of Gods, Jupiter ( Latin: Iuppiter). Jupiter can be seen even without using a telescope. This is more than twice the mass of all the other planets in the Solar System put together. The other gas giants are Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Jupiter is a gas giant, both because it is so large and made up of gas. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System.

#Jupiter hell distance explanation series#

A series of photographs taken by Voyager 1 as it approached Jupiter, made into an animation.