1. Jupiter is massive No, its really massive. The mass of Jupiter is 318 times the mass of the Earth.

In fact, Jupiter has 2.5 times the mass of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. But heres the funny thing If Jupiter got any more massive, it would actually get smaller. Additional mass would actually make the planet more dense, and start pulling it in on itself. Astronomers estimate that Jupiter could end up with 4 times its current mass, and still remain about the same size. 2. Jupiter cant ever become a star Astronomers call Jupiter a failed star, but thats not really appropriate. Its like saying your house is a failed skyscraper. Stars generate their energy through the fusion of mass together. Their enormous gravity creates heat and pressure inside the star so that atoms of hydrogen are fused together to create helium releasing heat in the process. Jupiter would need more than 70 times its current mass to ignite nuclear fusion. If you could crash dozens of Jupiters together, you might have a chance to make a new star. 3. Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in the Solar System For all its size and mass, Jupiter sure moves quickly. In fact, the planet only takes about 10 hours to complete a full rotation on its axis. And because its spinning so rapidly, the planet has flattened out a little and is bulging at its equator. In fact, points on Jupiters equator are more than 4,600 km further from the center than the poles. This rapid rotation also helps generate Jupiters powerful magnetic fields, and contribute to the dangerous radiation surrounding it. 4. The Clouds on Jupiter are only 50 km thick Thats right, all those beautiful whirling clouds and storms you see on Jupiter are only about 50 km thick. Theyre made of ammonia crystals broken up into two different cloud decks. The darker material is thought to be compounds brought up from deeper inside Jupiter, and then change color in sunlight. But below those clouds, its just hydrogen and helium, all the way down. 10. Jupiters Location and Size

Jupiter is the fifth planet from our sun and is located between Mars and Saturn. If you think the Earth is big, thats nothing compared to Jupiter, which is the largest planet in our Solar System. It would take 122 Earths to equal just the surface area of Jupiter. Now if were talking about volume, over 1,300 Earths could fit inside of Jupiter. The gravity on this Giant Planet is two and a half times stronger than Earths and if someone weighing 100 kg stood on Jupiter, they would weigh 150 kg there. Jupiters mass is 317 times greater than Earths and is two and a half times the mass of all remaining planets in our Solar System combined together. 9. The Origin of Jupiters Name Jupiters name came from the Roman God of mythology. He is the ultimate God of the Romans, which explains why the largest planet in our Solar System is named after him. In Roman mythology, Jupiter was said to be the son of Saturn. He was also the brother of Pluto and Neptune. Jupiter was married to Juno; however, he had affairs with numerous other women, which he had children with. The planets four largest moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) were all named after Jupiters many lovers. 8. Eight Spacecrafts Have Visited Jupiter Thus far, eight spacecrafts from Earth have visited Jupiter. They were Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini-Huygens and New Horizons. Pioneer 10 was launched in 1972 and was the first spacecraft to visit Jupiter. Pioneer 10 and 11 visited the planet in 1973 and 1974, followed by Voyager 1 and 2, which explored the planet in 1979. In 1992, sixteen months after taking off from Earth, Ulysses flew by Jupiter. Galileo was the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, which started in 1995, and discovered that most of the planets moons carry their own magnetic fields. Cassini-Huygens then flew by Jupiter in 2000 on its way to visit Saturn. And most recently, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Jupiter in 2007 on its way to Pluto. There is another spacecraft, named Juno, which is scheduled to launch in August 2011 and is expected to reach Jupiter in August 2016.
Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft, most notably during the early Pioneer and Voyager flyby missions and later by the Galileo orbiter. The most recent probe to visit Jupiter was the Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft in late February 2007. The probe used the gravity from Jupiter to increase its speed. Future targets for exploration in the Jovian system include the possible ice-covered liquid ocean on the moon Europa.

7. Jupiter Can Be Seen by the Naked Eye

When looking at the night sky, Jupiter is the third brightest object. Venus and our moon are the two brightest objects in our Solar System. Jupiter still does, however, shine brighter than the brightest star in our sky, which is called Sirius. With a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope, Jupiter appears as a small white disc and also visible are its four brightest moons (Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto). 6. Jupiters Strong Magnetic Field Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field in our Solar System. It is an astonishing fourteen times stronger than Earths. Some astronomers believe that Jupiters strong magnetic field is created by the motion of metallic hydrogen which is found deep inside of the planet. The magnetic field catches ionized particles from the solar wind and speeds them up to practically the speed of light. As a result, the particles create radiation surrounding Jupiter, which can cause extensive damage to any spacecraft wishing to get close to the Giant Planet. 5. Jupiters Spin and Orbit As massive as Jupiter is, its still the fastest spinning planet within our Solar System. As a matter of fact, it only takes approximately ten hours for the planet to complete a full rotation. It still, however, takes approximately twelve years to orbit the sun. Jupiters fast rotation contributes to the planets strong magnetic fields, along with the radiation which surrounds it. 4. Jupiters Planetary Rings Jupiter has four rings. Jupiters main ring is a result from dust being left behind from meteoroids colliding with the four inner moons (Thebe, Metis, Adrastea and Almathea). And unlike the rings of Saturn, there is no evidence of ice in the rings of Jupiter. Scientists have recently discovered a faint ring of dustresembling the shape of a doughnut which is in a backward orbit around the planet. They named the ring Halo. 3. Storms on Jupiter The storms on Jupiter and thunderstorms here on Earth have some similarities. The storms on Jupiter dont usually last very long, as the average lifespan is 3-4 days. However, a strong storm could last numerous months. The storms are created from plumes that make wet air rise to the top part of the troposphere, which then turns into clouds. Storms on Jupiter always including lightning and are much stronger than the storms we experience on Earth. However, the storms happen less often than they do here. Jupiter experiences powerful storms every

15-17 years. In 2007, two storms were located in the northern temperate belt of the planet. The storm was so powerful that the dark matter which was thrown by the storm actually changed the color of Jupiters belt. It was also reported that the storms moved as fast as 170 m/s, which could be evidence that powerful winds exist in the planets atmosphere. 2. Jupiters Many Moons So far, Jupiter has 63 confirmed moons. Four massive moons, called the Galilean moons were discovered back in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. These moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Ganymede is the largest moon, measuring at 3,270 miles across, which makes it larger than the planet Mercury, but only contains approximately half its mass. This icy moon completes an orbit in approximately seven days. Another interesting moon is Io, which contains fierce volcanoes, lava lakes and huge calderas. Mountains on Io can reach heights of 52,000 feet or 16 kilometers. Io orbits Jupiter closer than our moon does the Earth. Since Jupiter has an incredible gravity pull, the majority of the planets moons were captured rather than being formed. Interestingly enough, the majority of Jupiters 63 moons are less than ten kilometers (just over 6.2 miles) in diameter.
Galilean moons

Io- Io is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter and, , the fourthlargest moon in theSolar System. It was named after Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus. With over 400 active volcanoes, Io is the most geologically active object in the Solar System. Its surface is dotted with more than 100 mountains, some of which are taller than Earth's Mount Everest Europa- Europa, the second of the four Galilean moons, is the second closest to Jupiter .The name, Europa was after a mythical Phoenician noblewoman, Europa, who was courted by Zeus and became the queen of Crete, but did not become widely used until the mid-20th century. It is one of the smoothest objects in the solar system, with a layer of water surrounding the mantle of the planet, thought to be 100 kilometers thick The smooth surface includes a layer of ice, while the bottom of the ice is theorized to be liquid water

Ganymede- Ganymede, the third Galilean moon is named after the mythological Ganymede, cupbearer of the Greek gods and Zeus's beloved. Ganymede is the largest natural satellite in the Solar System which makes it larger than the planet Mercury although only at about half of its mass since Ganymede is an icy world. It is the only satellite in the Solar System known to possess a magnetosphere, likely created through convection within the liquid iron core. Callisto- Callisto is the fourth and last Galilean moon, and is the second largest of the four, it is the third largest moon in the Solar System. Callisto was a daughter of the Arkadian King Lykaon and a hunting companion of the goddess Artemis. Callisto is composed of approximately equal amounts ofrock and ices, which makes it the least dense of the Galilean moons.

1. The Great Red Spot In 1665, astronomer Giovanni Cassini first identified the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. The spot looks like a giant hurricane and was originally measured at 40,000 km across around a century ago, but is currently only half that size. Jupiter has a small rocky core, with the remainder of the planet being made up of dense hydrogen, water, nitrogen, helium and numerous other gases. The planets wild jet stream, along with power winds, causes many hurricane-like storms (similar to the Great Red Spot) and lightning Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. The Romans named the planet after the Roman god Jupiter. There are also at least 64 moons, including the four large moons called the Galilean moons that were first discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of these moons, has a diameter greater than that of the planet Mercury. Jupiter's shape is that of an oblate spheroid COMPOSITION- Jupiter is about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium (by numbers of atoms, 75/25% by mass) with traces of methane, water, ammonia and "rock". This is very close to the composition of the primordial Solar Nebula from which the entire solar system was formed. Saturn has a similar composition, but Uranus and Neptune have much less hydrogen

Mass-Jupiter's mass is 2.5 times that of all the other planets in our Solar System combined Internal structure-Jupiter is thought to consist of a dense core with a mixture of elements, a surrounding layer of liquid metallic hydrogen with some helium, and an outer layer predominantly of molecular hydrogen. Cloud layers-Jupiter is perpetually covered with clouds composed of ammonia crystals and possibly ammonium hydrosulfide(It is generated by mixing hydrogen sulfide and ammonia.)

Age Location Avg. distance from the Sun Diameter Mass Orbital period around the Sun

About the same age as the Sun: 4.5 billion years Solar system 778,300,000 km (483,600,000 miles) 143,000 km (88,850 miles) 1.900 x 1027 kg 11.86 Earth years (4330 Earth days)