Jupiter Facts

History of Discovery & General Info Known since ancient times Largest in solar system by far o 318 times as massive as Earth o 11 times diameter of Earth 5th planet from the sun First of the Jovian planets (gas giants) Mythology Roman god of the sky, ruler of pantheon Greek equivalent: Zeus Orbital Characteristics Semi-major axis Aphelion Perihelion Orbital period Jupiter Day Eccentricity Orbital inclination 5.20 AU 5.46 AU 4.95 AU 4332.59 days (11.9 Earth years) 9h 56m 0.048775 1.304 degrees Little Red Spot Smaller cousin to Great Red Spot Growing while GRS is shrinking Also anticyclonic Highest wind speed of any location on record = ~618 kph Rings Halo (100-122.8 megameters) Main (122.8-129.2 megameters) Gossamer (129.2-214.2 megameters) Two parts Composed mainly of dust Moons orbiting inside rings may cause this Adastria and Metis in Main Amalthea and Thebe in Gossamer Atmospheric Composition Hydrogen and Helium Small amounts of water vapor and ice Differential rotation About six different jet streams per hemisphere Wind speeds up to 150 m/s (540 kph) Clouds of ammonia ice Varying dry and wet zones Massive storms with lightning superbolts Great Red Spot Red cloud of gas 2 to 3 times Earths size 26 million meters by 134 million meters 20 to 40 kilometers deep Couterclockwise rotation Southern hemisphere High pressure anticyclone Long-lived: 150-300 years No landmass to dissipate storm energy Recently has begun to shrink

Groups of asteroids gather at Lagrange points o Asteroids preceding Jupiter named for Greeks o Asteroids after named for Trojans Jupiter protects Earth from many incoming asteroids/comets o Also occasionally deflects them at us

Surface Geology No crust, just a core Mostly heavy elements like iron and silicon Temperature = 13000-35000K Pressure = ~100 billion pascals Gas turns to liquid at 85% of radius Ocean of liquid H and He surrounds core

Moons 67+ moons Galilean Moons (in order of distance from Jupiter): Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto Discovered by Galileo in 1610 Evidence that not all bodies orbit the Earth Four largest Jovian moons Others are no bigger than 10% diameter 1. Io 100 volcanoes Releases charged particles Heated by flexing Gravitational forces from other moons cause a distorted orbit and therefore uneven tidal forces. This causes friction which produces internal heat. Sulfur is abundant Frozen sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere Makes the surface orange and covered with strange formations Europa High albedo Smooth surface is likely icy Heated internally Maybe radioactivity More likely tidal flexing Promising possibility for life

4. Callisto Old and very pockmarked Valhalla impact crater Bulls-eye with 10 rings Magnetic Field 10x as strong as Earths at cloud height Inner field (donut) = shells of particles Outer field (pancake) Interacts with solar wind Gets squished by incoming particles Emits radio waves Creates huge auroras Major Missions 1970s: (Fly-bys) o Pioneer 10 & 11 o Voyager 1 & 2 1992: Ulysses o Took data on magnetosphere o Used a swing-by to go into a highlyinclined orbit 1995-2003: Galileo o Orbited Jupiter o Moon fly-bys o Sent down an atmospheric probe o Crashed into Jupiter in a controlled impact 2000: Cassini o Took detailed pictures 2004: Ulysses passes again 2006: New Horizons passes by o It needed a gravity boost going to Pluto 2016: Juno o Named for Jupiters wife o Launched in 2011 o Will be the 2nd orbiter o Will see through thick cloud cover 2030: JUICE o JUpiter ICy moon Explorer o Planned for 2022 launch o Will orbit Jupiter and then Ganymede

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3. Ganymede Named for Jupiters cupbearer Largest moon in the solar system bigger than Mercury Has its own magnetic field Rocky core Water ice on surface is cold enough to be extremely hard Lots of impact craters Crater impacts in ice create weird, grooved terrain Faults like those on Earth