Giant+Jupiter



Jupiter is a very interesting planet. It has a total of 16 moons in its orbit. When you look at Jupiter, whether it be through a high powered microscope or from probe images we don't only see pretty stripes and a giant red dot you also see its atmosphere Those stripes or" alternating bands of light" scientists called them zones. The darker spots were called belts. Those belts are parallel to the equator on Jupiter's surface. Jupiter's extremely dense and has relatively dry atmosphere it’s made up of a mixture of hydrogen, helium and much smaller amounts of methane and ammonia. Jupiter makes heat by way of convection. Convection is the transfer of heat through a fluid. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. Jupiter travels around the sun almost elliptical, which means oval shaped, orbit. One full orbits it 4,333 earth days which is almost exactly twelve earth years. Its rotation period takes about 9 hours and 56 minutes.

Ancient Babylonians thought that Jupiter represented their god Marduk. While the Romans named it after Jupiter, the Greek god Jupiter. Jupiter or Jupiter Optimus Maximus meant the best and the greatest. In 1610, Galileo Galilei turned his telescope on Jupiter, and realized that it had 4 large moons orbiting it: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. This was an important discovery, because it demonstrated that not everything in the Universe orbits the Earth. The symbol for Jupiter looks like a fancy number four. It is a different version of a lightning bolt. It is also the alchemical symbol for tin. Jupiter has the biggest mass out of the four gas planets. Diameter of approximately 142,000 kilometers, and a mass approximately 318 times that of Earth. Jupiter has an average temperature of about -234 degrees Fahrenheit. This is below way below freezing on earth’s surface. Its density averages 1.33 grams per cubic centimeter, slightly more than the density of water. The velocity of this giant is 59.5 kilometers/second. Jupiter’s atmospheric composition is mostly made of the simple gas hydrogen and helium. Sulfur is also found thought the planets layers, as well as nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrogen and oxygen make up the air that we breathe every day on Earth. Many probes made it to Jupiter, which include the following; Pioneer 10,march 1972 pioneer 11,april 1973 Voyager 1, September 5 Voyager 2, August 20Galileo,October 18 1989lileo,October 18 1989. **Pictures **


 * INTERESTING FACTS **

**2. ** Jupiter has at least 63 moons. **3. ** Jupiter is bigger than all the planets in the solar system combined. **4. ** The Great Red Spot on Jupiter has been there for over 300 years.
 * 1. **Jupiter known as Zeus in Greece over threw his father Saturn to become king of the gods. He then split the Universe with his brothers Neptune and Pluto.
 * 5. **Jupiter has the best known hurricane in the solar system.
 * 6. **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">Jupiter’s gravity pulls in comets which become more moons of Jupiter.