Description, interesting facts and dimensions of Jupiter in comparison with other planets

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun, the largest in the solar system. Strips and curls on its surface are cold clouds dispersed by the wind, consisting of ammonia and water. The atmosphere is mainly composed of helium and hydrogen, and the famous Great red spot is a gigantic storm, the dimensions of which exceed the Earth, which lasts hundreds of years. Jupiter is surrounded by 53 confirmed moons, as well as 14 temporary ones, a total of 67. Scientists are most interested in the four largest objects discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei: Europe, Callisto, Ganymede and Io. Jupiter also has three rings, but they are very difficult to see, and they are not as elegant as Saturn's. The planet is named after the supreme Roman god.

Comparative dimensions of the Sun, Jupiter and the Earth

The planet was removed from the light by an average of 778 million km, which is 5.2 astronomical units. At this distance, light takes 43 minutes to reach the gas giant. The size of Jupiter in comparison with the Sun is so impressive that their barycenter goes beyond the surface of the luminary by 0.068 of its radius. The planet is much larger than the Earth and much less dense. Their volume corresponds to 1: 1321, and the mass - as 1: 318. From the center to the surface, the size of Jupiter in km is 69911. This is 11 times wider than our planet. The size of Jupiter and Earth can be compared as follows. If our planet was a nickle, then the gas giant would have been with a basketball. The size of the Sun and Jupiter in diameter are related as 10: 1, and the mass of the planet is 0.001 luminous masses.

Orbit and rotation

The gas giant has the shortest day in the solar system. Despite the size of Jupiter, the day on the planet lasts about 10 hours. A year, or revolution around the Sun, takes about 12 terrestrial years. The equator is tilted in relation to its orbital trajectory by only 3 degrees. This means that Jupiter rotates almost in an upright position and does not have such pronounced changes of the seasons that occur on our and other planets.

Formation

The planet was formed along with the entire Solar System 4.5 billion years ago, when gravity led to its formation from rotating dust and gas. The dimensions of Jupiter are due to the fact that he captured most of the mass left after the formation of the star. Its volume is twice as high as the rest of the substance of other objects of the solar system. It consists of the same substance as the star, but the size of the planet Jupiter did not grow enough to trigger a thermonuclear reaction. About four billion years ago, the gas giant found itself in its current position in the outer solar system.

Structure

The composition of Jupiter is similar to the solar one - basically it is helium and hydrogen. Deep in the atmosphere, the pressure and temperature increase, compressing hydrogen gas into the liquid. Because of this, Jupiter has the largest ocean in the solar system, consisting of hydrogen instead of water. Scientists believe that at depths, perhaps halfway to the center of the planet, the pressure becomes so great that electrons are squeezed out of hydrogen atoms, turning it into a liquid electrically conductive metal. The rapid rotation of the gas giant causes in it electric currents that generate a strong magnetic field. It is still unknown whether the planet has a central core of hard material, or it is a dense super-hot iron soup and silicate minerals (like quartz) with a temperature of up to 50,000 ° C.

Surface

Like a gas giant, Jupiter does not have a true surface. The planet consists mainly of rotating gases and liquids. Since the spacecraft can not land on Jupiter, it can not fly away unharmed. Extreme pressures and temperatures deep inside the planet will crush, melt and evaporate the ship, which will try to hit it.

Atmosphere

Jupiter looks like a colored tapestry of cloudy bands and spots. The gas planet probably has three separate cloud layers in its "sky," which together cover about 71 km. The upper one consists of ammonium ice. The middle layer most likely forms crystals of ammonium hydrosulfide, and the inner layer is formed by water ice and steam. Bright colors of thick bands on Jupiter can be emissions of sulfur and phosphorus-containing gases rising from its bowels. The rapid rotation of the planet creates strong vortex currents, dividing clouds into long dark belts and light zones.

The absence of a solid surface, capable of slowing them, allows Jupiter spots to persist for many years. The planet covers more than a dozen dominant winds, some reach a speed of 539 km / h at the equator. The dimensions of the Red Spot on Jupiter are twice as wide as the Earth. The formation of a swirling oval shape has been observed on a giant planet for more than 300 years. More recently, three small ovals formed a small red spot, about half the size of a larger cousin. Scientists do not know yet whether these ovals and the band surrounding the planet are shallow or deep in depth.

Potential for life

The environment of Jupiter probably does not contribute to life, as we know it. Temperatures, pressures and substances that characterize this planet are likely to be too extreme and lethal to living organisms. Although Jupiter is an unlikely place for living things, the same can not be said for some of its many satellites. Europe is one of the most likely places to find life in our solar system. There is evidence of a huge ocean beneath the icy crust, in which life can be sustained.

Satellites

A lot of small and four large satellites of Jupiter form the solar system in miniature. The planet has 53 confirmed satellites, as well as 14 temporary ones, which gives a total of 67. About these newly discovered satellites reported astronomers and the International Astronomical Union gave them a temporary indication. Once their orbits are confirmed, they will be included in the number of permanent ones.

The four largest satellites - Europe, Io, Callisto and Ganymede - were first discovered in 1610 by astronomer Galileo Galilei using an earlier version of the telescope. These four moons today represent one of the most fascinating areas of research. Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Ganymede is the largest of them (even more than the planet Mercury). The second largest satellite from Jupiter - Callisto - has few small craters, which indicates a small degree of current surface activity. The ocean of liquid water with ingredients for life can lie under the icy crust of Europe, making it an enticing object for study.

Rings

Discovered in 1979 by NASA's Voyager 1, the Jupiter rings became a surprise, as they turned out to be composed of dark particles of small size that can only be seen against the sun. The data from the Galileo spacecraft indicate that the system of rings can be formed by the dust of interplanetary meteoric bodies, crashed against small internal satellites.

Magnetosphere

Magnetosphere of a gas giant is a region of space that is under the influence of a powerful magnetic field of the planet. It extends to a distance of 1-3 million km to the Sun, which is 7-21 times larger than the size of Jupiter and narrows in the form of a tadpole tail of 1 billion km, reaching the orbit of Saturn. A huge magnetic field is 16-54 times more powerful than the terrestrial one. It rotates with the planet and captures particles that have an electric charge. Near Jupiter, it catches hordes of charged particles and accelerates them to very high energies, creating intense radiation that bombards nearby satellites and is capable of damaging the spacecraft. The magnetic field causes one of the most impressive auroras in the solar system at the poles of the planet.

Study

Although Jupiter was known since ancient times, the first detailed observations of this planet were made by Galileo Galilei in 1610 using a primitive telescope. And only recently it was visited by space ships, satellites and probes. The 10th and 11th Pioneers, the 1st and 2nd Voyagers, flew first to Jupiter in the 1970s, and then Galileo was sent to the orbit of the gas giant, and a probe was launched into the atmosphere. "Cassini" made detailed photographs of the planet on the way to neighboring Saturn. The next "Juneau" mission arrived on Jupiter in July 2016.

Notable events

• 1610: Galileo Galilei first made detailed observations of the planet.
• 1973: the first spacecraft "Pioneer-10" crossed the belt of asteroids and flew past the gas giant.
• 1979: The first and second "Voyagers" discovered new moons, rings and volcanic activity on Io.
• 1992: On February 8, Ulysses flew past Jupiter. Gravitation changed the trajectory of the spacecraft away from the plane of the ecliptic, leading the probe to the final orbit over the southern and northern poles of the Sun.
• 1994: in the region of the southern hemisphere of Jupiter, there was a collision with fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy.
• 1995-2003: the Galileo spacecraft dropped the probe into the atmosphere of the gas giant and conducted long-term observations of the planet, its rings and satellites.
• 2000: Cassini made its closest approach to Jupiter at a distance of about 10 million km, making a very detailed color mosaic photograph of the gas giant.
• 2007: Images taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft on the way to Pluto have shown new prospects for atmospheric storms, rings, volcanic Io and icy Europe.
• 2009: Astronomers have observed the fall of a comet or an asteroid on the southern hemisphere of the planet.
• 2016: launched in 2011, "Juneau" arrived on Jupiter and began in-depth studies of the atmosphere of the planet, its deep structure and magnetosphere in order to solve its origin and evolution.

Pop culture

The huge size of Jupiter is not inferior to its significant presence in pop culture, including films, TV shows, video games and comics. The gas giant became a notable item in the sci-fi film of the Wachowski sisters "Ascent of Jupiter", various satellites of the planet became the abode of "Cloud Atlas", "Futurama", "Halo" and many other tapes. In the movie People in Black, when Agent J (Will Smith) says that one of his teachers seemed to be from Venus, Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) replied that she was actually from one of Jupiter's moons.