Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter is the most massive planet. Basic information about the planet

If you look at the northwestern part of the sky after sunset (southwestern in the northern hemisphere), you will find one bright point of light that stands out easily from everything around it. This is the planet, shining with intense and even light.

Today, people can explore this gas giant like never before. After a journey of five years and decades of planning, NASA's Juno spacecraft has finally reached Jupiter's orbit.

Thus, humanity is witnessing the entry into a new phase of exploration of the largest of the gas giants in our solar system. But what do we know about Jupiter and with what base should we enter this new scientific milestone?

Size matters

Jupiter is not only one of the brightest objects in the night sky, but also the largest planet in the solar system. It is because of the size of Jupiter that it is so bright. What's more, the mass of the gas giant is more than twice that of all the other planets, moons, comets, and asteroids in our system combined.

Jupiter's sheer size suggests that it may have been the very first planet to form in orbit around the sun. The planets are thought to have originated from the debris left after an interstellar cloud of gas and dust coalesced during the formation of the Sun. Early in its life, our then young star generated a wind that blew away most of the remaining interstellar cloud, but Jupiter was able to partially contain it.

Moreover, Jupiter contains a recipe for what the solar system itself is made of - its components correspond to the content of other planets and small bodies, and the processes that occur on the planet are fundamental examples of the synthesis of materials to form such amazing and diverse worlds as the planets of the solar system .

king of the planets

Given the excellent visibility, Jupiter, along with, and, people have observed in the night sky since ancient times. Regardless of culture and religion, humanity considered these objects unique. Even then, observers noted that they do not remain motionless within the patterns of constellations, like stars, but move according to certain laws and rules. Therefore, the ancient Greek astronomers ranked these planets among the so-called "wandering stars", and later the term "planet" itself appeared from this name.

It is remarkable how accurately the ancient civilizations designated Jupiter. Not knowing then yet that it is the largest and most massive of the planets, they named this planet in honor of the Roman king of the gods, who was also the god of the sky. In ancient Greek mythology, the analogue of Jupiter is Zeus, the supreme deity of Ancient Greece.

However, Jupiter is not the brightest of the planets, this record belongs to Venus. There are strong differences in the trajectories of Jupiter and Venus in the sky, and scientists have already explained why this is due. It turns out that Venus, being an inner planet, is located close to the Sun and appears as an evening star after sunset or a morning star before sunrise, while Jupiter, being an outer planet, is able to wander around the entire sky. It was this motion, along with the planet's high brightness, that helped ancient astronomers mark Jupiter as the King of the planets.

In 1610, from the end of January to the beginning of March, the astronomer Galileo Galilei observed Jupiter with his new telescope. He easily identified and tracked the first three, and then four bright points of light in his orbit. They formed a straight line on either side of Jupiter, but their positions constantly and steadily changed in relation to the planet.

In his work, which is called Sidereus Nuncius ("Interpretation of the Stars", lat. 1610), Galileo confidently and quite correctly explained the movement of objects in orbit around Jupiter. Later, it was his conclusions that became proof that all objects in the sky did not orbit, which led to a conflict between the astronomer and the Catholic Church.

So, Galileo managed to discover the four main satellites of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, satellites that scientists today call the Galilean moons of Jupiter. Decades later, astronomers were able to identify other satellites, the total number of which is currently 67, which is the largest number of satellites in the orbit of a planet in the solar system.

big red spot

Saturn has rings, Earth has blue oceans, and Jupiter has strikingly bright and swirling clouds formed by the gas giant's very rapid rotation on its axis (every 10 hours). Spot formations observed on its surface represent formations of dynamic weather conditions in Jupiter's clouds.

For scientists, the question remains how deep these clouds go to the surface of the planet. It is believed that the so-called Great Red Spot - a huge storm on Jupiter, discovered on its surface back in 1664, is constantly shrinking and decreasing in size. But even now, this massive storm system is roughly twice the size of Earth.

Recent observations by the Hubble Space Telescope indicate that starting in the 1930s, when the object was first observed sequentially, its size could have halved. Currently, many researchers say that the reduction in the size of the Great Red Spot is happening more and more rapidly.

radiation hazard

Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field of all the planets. At the poles of Jupiter, the magnetic field is 20,000 times stronger than on Earth, and it extends millions of kilometers into space, reaching the orbit of Saturn in the process.

The heart of Jupiter's magnetic field is considered to be a layer of liquid hydrogen hidden deep inside the planet. Hydrogen is under such high pressure that it becomes liquid. So given that the electrons inside the hydrogen atoms are able to move around, it takes on the characteristics of a metal and is able to conduct electricity. Given Jupiter's rapid rotation, such processes create an ideal environment for creating a powerful magnetic field.

Jupiter's magnetic field is a real trap for charged particles (electrons, protons and ions), some of which fall into it from solar winds, and others from Jupiter's Galilean satellites, in particular, from volcanic Io. Some of these particles are moving towards Jupiter's poles, creating spectacular auroras all around that are 100 times brighter than those on Earth. The other part of the particles, which is captured by Jupiter's magnetic field, forms its radiation belts, which are many times larger than any version of the Van Allen belts on Earth. Jupiter's magnetic field accelerates these particles to such an extent that they move in belts at almost the speed of light, creating the most dangerous zones of radiation in the solar system.

Weather on Jupiter

The weather on Jupiter, like everything else about the planet, is very majestic. Above the surface, storms rage all the time, which constantly change their shape, grow thousands of kilometers in just a few hours, and their winds twist clouds at a speed of 360 kilometers per hour. It is here that the so-called Great Red Spot is present, which is a storm that has been going on for several hundred Earth years.

Jupiter is wrapped in clouds of ammonia crystals that can be seen as bands of yellow, brown and white. Clouds tend to be located at specific latitudes, also known as tropical regions. These bands are formed by supplying air in different directions at different latitudes. The lighter shades of the areas where the atmosphere rises are called zones. The dark regions where air currents descend are called belts.

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When these opposite currents interact with each other, storms and turbulence appear. The depth of the cloud layer is only 50 kilometers. It consists of at least two levels of clouds: lower, denser and upper, thinner. Some scientists believe that there is still a thin layer of water clouds under the ammonia layer. Lightning on Jupiter can be a thousand times more powerful than lightning on Earth, and there is almost no good weather on the planet.

Although most of us think of Saturn with its pronounced rings when we mention the rings around the planet, Jupiter also has them. Jupiter's rings are mostly dust, making them hard to see. The formation of these rings is believed to have been due to Jupiter's gravity, which captured material ejected from its moons as a result of their collisions with asteroids and comets.

Planet - record holder

To summarize, it is safe to say that Jupiter is the largest, most massive, fastest-rotating, and most dangerous planet in the solar system. It has the strongest magnetic field and the largest number of known satellites. In addition, it is believed that it was he who captured the untouched gas from the interstellar cloud that gave birth to our Sun.

The strong gravitational influence of this gas giant helped move material in our solar system, pulling ice, water and organic molecules from the outer cold regions of the solar system to its inner part, where these valuable materials could be captured by the Earth's gravitational field. This is also indicated by the fact that The first planets that astronomers discovered in the orbits of other stars almost always belonged to the class of the so-called hot Jupiters - exoplanets whose masses are similar to the mass of Jupiter, and the location of their stars in orbit is close enough, which causes a high surface temperature.

And now, when the Juno spacecraft already orbiting this majestic gas giant, the scientific world has the opportunity to unravel some of the mysteries of Jupiter's formation. Will the theory that did it all start with a rocky core, which then attracted a huge atmosphere, or is Jupiter's origin more like the formation of a star formed from a solar nebula? For these other questions, scientists plan to find answers during the next 18-month Juno mission. dedicated to a detailed study of the King of the planets.

The first recorded mention of Jupiter was by the ancient Babylonians in the 7th or 8th century BC. Jupiter is named after the king of the Roman gods and the god of the sky. The Greek equivalent is Zeus, the lord of lightning and thunder. Among the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, this deity was known as Marduk, the patron saint of the city of Babylon. The Germanic tribes referred to the planet as Donar, which was also known as Thor.
Galileo's discovery of the four satellites of Jupiter in 1610 was the first proof of the rotation of celestial bodies not only in the orbit of the Earth. This discovery was also additional proof of the Copernican heliocentric model of the solar system.
Of the eight planets in the solar system, Jupiter has the shortest day. The planet rotates at a very high speed and rotates around its axis every 9 hours and 55 minutes. Such a rapid rotation causes the effect of a flattening of the planet and that is why it sometimes looks oblate.
One orbit around the Sun at Jupiter takes 11.86 Earth years. This means that when viewed from Earth, the planet appears to be moving very slowly in the sky. Jupiter takes months to move from one constellation to another.

Jupiter has a small system of rings around. Its rings are mostly made up of dust particles emanating from some of its moons on impacts from comets and asteroids. The ring system begins about 92,000 kilometers above Jupiter's clouds and extends over 225,000 kilometers from the planet's surface. The total thickness of Jupiter's rings is in the range of 2,000-12,500 kilometers.
There are currently 67 known moons of Jupiter. These include four large moons, also known as the Galilean moons, discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610.
Jupiter's largest moon is Ganymede, which is also the largest moon in the solar system. The four largest moons of Jupiter (Gannymede, Callisto, Io and Europa) are larger than Mercury, whose diameter is about 5268 kilometers.
Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in our solar system. He takes his place of honor after the Sun, Moon and Venus. In addition, Jupiter is one of the brightest objects that can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.
Jupiter has a unique cloud layer. The upper atmosphere of the planet is divided into zones and cloud belts, which consist of crystals of ammonia, sulfur, and a mixture of these two compounds.
Jupiter has the Great Red Spot, a huge storm that has been raging for over three hundred years. This storm is so vast that it can accommodate three Earth-sized planets at once.
If Jupiter were 80 times more massive, nuclear fusion would begin inside its core, which would turn the planet into a star.

Photo of Jupiter

The first photographs of Jupiter taken by the Juno spacecraft were released in August 2016. Look at how magnificent the planet Jupiter is, as we have not seen it before.

Real photo of Jupiter taken by the Juno probe

"The largest planet in the solar system is actually unique," says Scott Bolton, principal investigator for the Juno mission.

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Jupiter is the fifth planet in the solar system, belonging to the category of gas giants. five times the diameter of Uranus (51,800 km), and its mass is 1.9 × 10^27 kg. Jupiter, like Saturn, has rings, but they are not clearly visible from space. In this article, we will get acquainted with some astronomical information and find out which planet is Jupiter.

Jupiter is a special planet

Interestingly, the star and the planet differ from each other in mass. Celestial bodies with a large mass become stars, and bodies with a smaller mass become planets. Jupiter, due to its enormous size, may well have been known to today's scientists as a star. However, during formation, he received an insufficient mass for a star. Therefore, Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system.

Looking at the planet Jupiter through a telescope, you can see dark bands and light zones between them. In fact, such a picture is created by clouds of different temperatures: light clouds are colder than dark ones. From this we can conclude that the telescope can see the atmosphere of Jupiter, and not its surface.

Jupiter often experiences auroras similar to those seen on Earth.

It should be noted that the inclination of Jupiter's axis to the plane of its orbit does not exceed 3°. Therefore, for a long time nothing was known about the presence of the planet's ring system. The main ring of the planet Jupiter is very thin, and can be seen edge-on with telescopic observations, so it was difficult to see it. Scientists learned about its existence only after the launch of the Voyager spacecraft, which flew up to Jupiter at a certain angle and discovered rings near the planet.

Jupiter is considered a gas giant. Its atmosphere is mostly hydrogen. Helium, methane, ammonium and water are also present in the atmosphere. Astronomers suggest that behind the planet's cloudy layer and gas-liquid metallic hydrogen, it is quite possible to detect Jupiter's solid core.

Basic information about the planet

The planet of the solar system Jupiter has truly unique characteristics. The main data is presented in the following table.

Discovery of Jupiter

Jupiter was discovered by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610. Galileo is considered the first person to use a telescope to observe the cosmos and celestial bodies. The discovery of the fifth planet from the Sun - Jupiter - was one of the first discoveries of Galileo Galilei and served as a serious argument to confirm the theory of the heliocentric system of the world.

In the 60s of the seventeenth century, Giovanni Cassini was able to detect "bands" on the surface of the planet. As mentioned above, this effect is created due to the different temperatures of the clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere.

In 1955, scientists became aware that the matter of Jupiter emits a high-frequency radio signal. Thanks to this, the existence of a significant magnetic field around the planet was discovered.

In 1974, the Pioneer 11 probe flying to Saturn took several detailed pictures of the planet. In 1977-1779, much became known about the atmosphere of Jupiter, about atmospheric phenomena occurring on it, as well as about the planet's ring system.

And today, a careful study of the planet Jupiter and the search for new information about it continues.

Jupiter in mythology

In the mythology of Ancient Rome, Jupiter is the supreme god, the father of all gods. He owns the sky, daylight, rain and thunder, luxury and abundance, law and order and the possibility of healing, fidelity and purity of all living things. He is the king of heavenly and earthly beings. In ancient Greek mythology, the place of Jupiter is occupied by the almighty Zeus.

His father is the earth), his mother is Opa (the goddess of fertility and abundance), his brothers are Pluto and Neptune, and his sisters are Ceres and Vesta. His wife Juno is the goddess of marriage, family and motherhood. You can see that the names of many celestial bodies appeared thanks to the ancient Romans.

As mentioned above, the ancient Romans considered Jupiter the highest, all-powerful god. Therefore, it was divided into separate incarnations, responsible for a certain power of God. For example, Jupiter Victor (victory), Jupiter Tonans (thunderstorm and rain), Jupiter Libertas (freedom), Jupiter Feretrius (god of war and victorious triumph) and others.

On a hill, the Capitol in Ancient Rome was central to the faith and religion of the entire country. This once again proves the unshakable faith of the Romans in the dominance and majesty of the god Jupiter.

Jupiter also protected the inhabitants of Ancient Rome from the arbitrariness of emperors, guarded the sacred Roman laws, being the source and symbol of true justice.

It is also worth noting that the ancient Greeks called the planet, whose name was given in honor of Jupiter, Zeus. This is due to the differences in religion and faith of the inhabitants of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece.

Sometimes in the atmosphere of Jupiter there are vortices that have a rounded shape. The Great Red Spot is the most famous of these vortices and is also considered the largest in the solar system. Its existence was known to astronomers more than four hundred years ago.

The size of the Great Red Spot - 40 × 15,000 kilometers - is more than three times the size of the Earth.

The average temperature on the "surface" of the vortex is below -150°C. The composition of the spot has not yet been finally determined. It is assumed that it consists of hydrogen and ammonium, and sulfur and phosphorus compounds give it a red color. Also, some scientists believe that the spot turns red when it enters the zone of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.

It is worth noting that the existence of such stable atmospheric formations as the Great Red Spot is impossible in the Earth's atmosphere, which, as is known, consists mostly of oxygen (≈21%) and nitrogen (≈78%).

Moons of Jupiter

Jupiter itself is the largest - the main star of the solar system. Unlike the planet Earth, Jupiter has 69 moons, the largest number of moons in the entire solar system. Jupiter and its moons together make up a smaller version of the solar system: Jupiter, located in the center, and smaller celestial bodies dependent on it, rotating in their orbits.

Like the planet itself, some of Jupiter's moons were discovered by the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei. The satellites he discovered - Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto - are still called Galilean. The last satellite known to astronomers was discovered in 2017, so this number should not be considered final. In addition to the four discovered by Galileo, as well as Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea and Thebes, the moons of Jupiter are not too large. And the other "neighbor" of Jupiter - the planet Venus - has not been found to have satellites at all. This table shows some of them.

Consider the most important satellites of the planet - the results of the famous discovery of Galileo Galileo.

And about

Io is the fourth largest satellite of all the planets in the solar system. Its diameter is 3,642 kilometers.

Of the four Galilean moons, Io is closest to Jupiter. A large number of volcanic processes take place on Io, so outwardly the satellite is very similar to pizza. Regular eruptions of numerous volcanoes periodically change the appearance of this celestial body.

Europe

Jupiter's next moon is Europa. It is the smallest among the Galilean satellites (diameter - 3122 km).

The entire surface of Europa is covered with an ice crust. Exact information has not yet been clarified, but scientists suggest that under this crust is ordinary water. Thus, the structure of this satellite somewhat resembles the structure of the Earth: a solid crust, liquid matter and a solid core located in the center.

The surface of Europa is also considered the flattest in the entire solar system. There is nothing on the satellite that rises more than 100 meters.

Ganymede

Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. Its diameter is 5,260 kilometers, which even exceeds the diameter of the first planet from the Sun - Mercury. And the closest neighbor in the planetary system of Jupiter - the planet Mars - has a diameter reaching only 6,740 kilometers near the equator.

When observing Ganymede through a telescope, one can notice separate light and dark areas on its surface. Astronomers have found that they are composed of cosmic ice and solid rocks. Sometimes on the satellite you can see traces of currents.

Callisto

The Galilean satellite farthest from Jupiter is Callisto. Callisto ranks third in size among the satellites of the solar system (diameter - 4,820 km).

Callisto is the most cratered celestial body in the entire solar system. Craters on the surface of the satellite have different depths and colors, which indicates a sufficient age of Callisto. Some scientists even consider the surface of Callisto to be the "oldest" in the solar system, claiming that it has not been updated for more than 4 billion years.

Weather

What is the weather like on the planet Jupiter? This question cannot be answered unambiguously. The weather on Jupiter is unstable and unpredictable, but scientists have been able to identify certain patterns in it.

As mentioned above, powerful atmospheric vortices (such as the Great Red Spot) arise above the surface of Jupiter. From this it follows that among the atmospheric phenomena of Jupiter, crushing hurricanes can be distinguished, the speed of which exceeds 550 kilometers per hour. The occurrence of such hurricanes is also influenced by clouds of different temperatures, which can be distinguished in numerous photographs of the planet Jupiter.

Also, observing Jupiter through a telescope, you can see the strongest storms and lightning shaking the planet. Such a phenomenon on the fifth planet from the Sun is considered permanent.

The temperature of Jupiter's atmosphere drops below -140 ° C, which is considered prohibitive for life forms known to mankind. In addition, Jupiter, visible to us, consists only of a gaseous atmosphere, so astronomers still know little about the weather on the planet's solid surface.

Conclusion

So, in this article we got acquainted with the largest planet in the solar system - Jupiter. It became clear that if Jupiter, during its formation, had been given a slightly larger amount of energy, then our planetary system could be called "Sun-Jupiter" and depend on the two largest stars. However, Jupiter failed to turn into a star, and today it is considered the largest gas giant, the size of which is really amazing.

The planet itself was named after the ancient Roman sky god. But many other, terrestrial objects have been named after the planet itself. For example, the brand of Soviet tape recorders "Jupiter"; a sailing ship of the Baltic Fleet at the beginning of the 19th century; brand of Soviet electric batteries "Jupiter"; battleship of the British Navy; film award approved in 1979 in Germany. Also in honor of the planet was named the famous Soviet motorcycle "IZH planet Jupiter", which marked the beginning of a whole series of road motorcycles. The manufacturer of this series of motorcycles is the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant.

Astronomy is one of the most interesting and unknown sciences of our time. Outer space surrounding our planet is a curious phenomenon that captures the imagination. Modern scientists are making new discoveries that allow us to find out previously unknown information. Therefore, it is extremely important to follow the discoveries of astronomers, because our life and the life of our planet is entirely subject to the laws of space.

Jupiter is the fifth planet in terms of distance from the Sun and the largest in the solar system. Just like Uranus, Neptune and Saturn, Jupiter is a gas giant. Mankind has known about him for a long time. Quite often there are references to Jupiter in religious beliefs and mythology. In modern times, the planet got its name in honor of the ancient Roman god.

Atmospheric phenomena on Jupiter are much larger than those on Earth. The most remarkable formation on the planet is the Great Red Spot, which is a giant storm known to us since the 17th century.

The approximate number of satellites is 67, of which the largest are: Europa, Io, Callisto and Ganymede. G. Galileo was the first to discover them in 1610.

All studies of the planet are carried out using orbital and ground-based telescopes. Since the 70s, 8 NASA vehicles have been sent to Jupiter. During the great confrontations, the planet was visible to the naked eye. Jupiter is one of the brightest objects in the sky after Venus and the Moon. And the satellites and the disk itself are considered the most popular for observers.

Jupiter observations

Optical range

If we consider an object in the infrared region of the spectrum, we can pay attention to the molecules of He and H2, in the same way the lines of other elements become noticeable. The amount of H speaks about the origin of the planet, and you can learn about the internal evolution thanks to the qualitative and quantitative composition of other elements. But helium and hydrogen molecules do not have a dipole moment, which means that their absorption lines are not noticeable until they are absorbed by impact ionization. Also, these lines appear in the upper layers of the atmosphere, from where they are not able to carry data about deeper layers. Based on this, the most reliable information about the amount of hydrogen and helium on Jupiter can be obtained using the Galileo apparatus.

As for the rest of the elements, their analysis and interpretation is very difficult. It is impossible to say with full certainty about the ongoing processes in the planet's atmosphere. The chemical composition is also a big question. But, according to most astronomers, all processes that can affect the elements are local and limited. From this it follows that they do not carry any special changes in the distribution of substances.

Jupiter radiates 60% more energy than it consumes from the Sun. These processes affect the size of the planet. Jupiter decreases by 2 cm per year. P. Bodenheimer in 1974 put forward the opinion that at the time of formation the planet was 2 times larger than it is now, and the temperature was much higher.

Gamma range

The study of the planet in the gamma range concerns the aurora and the study of the disk. Einstein's space laboratory registered this in 1979. From the Earth, the regions of the aurora in the ultraviolet and X-rays coincide, but this does not apply to Jupiter. Earlier observations established a pulsation of radiation with a frequency of 40 minutes, but later observations showed this dependence much worse.

Astronomers hoped that the X-ray spectrum would make Jupiter's auroral glow similar to that of comets, but the Chandra observations disproved that hope.

According to the XMM-Newton space observatory, it turns out that the disk radiation in the gamma spectrum is a solar X-ray reflection of radiation. Compared to the aurora, there is no periodicity in the intensity of the radiation.

radio surveillance

Jupiter is one of the most powerful radio sources in the solar system in the meter-decimeter ranges. Radio emission is sporadic. Such bursts occur in the range from 5 to 43 MHz, with an average width of 1 MHz. The duration of the burst is very short - 0.1-1 sec. The radiation is polarized, and in a circle it can reach 100%.

The radio emission of the planet in the short centimeter-millimeter bands has a purely thermal character, although, unlike the equilibrium temperature, the brightness is much higher. This feature speaks of the flow of heat from the bowels of Jupiter.

Gravitational Potential Calculations

Analysis of the trajectories of spacecraft and observations of the movements of natural satellites show the gravitational field of Jupiter. It has strong differences in comparison with spherically symmetrical. As a rule, the gravitational potential is presented in expanded form in terms of Legendre polynomials.

The Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Galileo, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and Cassini spacecraft used several measurements to calculate the gravitational potential: 1) transmitted images to determine their location; 2) Doppler effect; 3) radio interferometry. Some of them had to take into account the gravitational presence of the Great Red Spot in their measurements.

In addition, processing the data, one has to postulate the theory of the motion of Galileo's satellites revolving around the center of the planet. A huge problem for exact calculations is the consideration of acceleration, which has a non-gravitational character.

Jupiter in the solar system

The equatorial radius of this gas giant is 71.4 thousand km, thereby exceeding the Earth's by 11.2 times. Jupiter is the only planet of its kind that has its center of mass with the Sun located outside the Sun.

The mass of Jupiter exceeds the total weight of all the planets by 2.47 times, the Earth - by 317.8 times. But less than the mass of the Sun by 1000 times. In terms of density, it is very similar to the Luminary and is 4.16 times less than that of our planet. But the force of gravity exceeds the earth's by 2.4 times.

The planet Jupiter as a "failed star"

Some studies of theoretical models have shown that if the mass of Jupiter were slightly larger than it actually is, then the planet would begin to shrink. Although small changes would not greatly affect the radius of the planet, provided that the actual mass increased four times, the planetary density increased so much that the process of size reduction due to the action of strong gravity would begin.

Based on this study, Jupiter has the maximum diameter for a planet with a similar history and structure. A further increase in mass led to the duration of the contraction until Jupiter, in the process of star formation, turned into a brown dwarf with a mass exceeding its current mass by 50 times. Astronomers believe that Jupiter is a "failed star", although it is still not clear whether there is a similarity between the formation process of the planet Jupiter and those planets that form binary star systems. Early evidence suggests that Jupiter would have to be 75 times as massive to become a star, but the smallest known red dwarf is only 30% larger in diameter.

Rotation and orbit of Jupiter

Jupiter from Earth has an apparent magnitude of 2.94m, making the planet the third brightest object visible to the naked eye after Venus and the Moon. Farthest away from us, the apparent size of the planet is 1.61m. The minimum distance from Earth to Jupiter is 588 million kilometers, and the maximum distance is 967 million kilometers.

The confrontation between the planets occurs every 13 months. It should be noted that once every 12 years the great opposition of Jupiter takes place, at the moment the planet is near the perihelion of its own orbit, while the angular size of the object from the Earth is 50 arc seconds.

Jupiter is 778.5 million kilometers away from the Sun, while the planet makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 11.8 Earth years. The greatest perturbation to the movement of Jupiter in its own orbit is made by Saturn. There are two types of reimbursement:

Age-old - it has been operating for 70 thousand years. This changes the eccentricity of the planet's orbit.

Resonance - is manifested due to the proximity ratio of 2:5.

A feature of the planet can be called the fact that it has a great proximity between the plane of the orbit and the plane of the planet. On the planet Jupiter there is no change of seasons, due to the fact that the planet's axis of rotation is tilted 3.13 °, for comparison, we can add that the tilt of the Earth's axis is 23.45 °.

The rotation of the planet around its axis is the fastest among all the planets that are part of the solar system. Thus, in the region of the equator, Jupiter makes a revolution around its axis in 9 hours 50 minutes and 30 seconds, and the middle latitudes make this revolution 5 minutes and 10 longer. Due to this rotation, the planet's radius at the equator is 6.5% larger than at mid-latitudes.

Theories about the existence of life on Jupiter

A huge amount of research over time suggests that the conditions of Jupiter are not conducive to the origin of life. First of all, this is due to the low content of water in the composition of the planet's atmosphere and the lack of a solid foundation of the planet. It should be noted that in the 70s of the last century, a theory was put forward that in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter, the existence of living organisms that live on the basis of ammonia is possible. In support of this hypothesis, we can say that the atmosphere of the planet, even at shallow depths, has a high temperature and high density, and this contributes to chemical evolutionary processes. This theory was expressed by Carl Sagan, after which, together with E.E. Salpeter, scientists did a series of calculations that led to the conclusion of three alleged life forms on the planet:

Floaters - were supposed to act as huge organisms, the size of a large city on Earth. They are similar to a balloon in that they are busy pumping helium out of the atmosphere and leaving hydrogen behind. They live in the upper atmosphere and produce molecules for food on their own.
Sinkers are microorganisms that can multiply very quickly, which allows the species to survive.
Hunters are predators that feed on floaters.

But these are only hypotheses that are not supported by scientific facts.

The structure of the planet

Modern technologies do not yet allow scientists to accurately determine the chemical composition of the planet, but nevertheless, the upper layers of Jupiter's atmosphere have been studied with high accuracy. The study of the atmosphere was made possible only by the descent of a spacecraft called Galileo, which entered the planet's atmosphere in December 1995. This made it possible to accurately say that the atmosphere consists of helium and hydrogen, in addition to these elements, methane, ammonia, water, phosphine and hydrogen sulfide were detected. It is assumed that the deeper sphere of the atmosphere, namely the troposphere, consists of sulfur, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.

Inert gases such as xenon, argon and krypton are also present, and their concentration is greater than in the Sun. The possibility of the existence of water, dioxide and carbon monoxide is possible in the upper atmosphere of the planet due to collisions with comets, as an example, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is given.

The reddish color of the planet is due to the presence of compounds of red phosphorus, carbon and sulfur, or even due to organic matter, which was born when exposed to electrical discharges. It should be noted that the color of the atmosphere is not uniform, which indicates that different areas consist of different chemical components.

Jupiter structure

It is generally accepted that the internal structure of the planet under the clouds consists of a layer of helium and hydrogen with a thickness of 21 thousand kilometers. Here, the substance has a smooth transition in its structure from a gaseous state to a liquid state, after which there is a layer with metallic hydrogen with a capacity of 50 thousand kilometers. The middle part of the planet is occupied by a solid core with a radius of 10 thousand kilometers.

The most recognized model of the structure of Jupiter:

Atmosphere:
outer hydrogen layer.

The middle layer is represented by helium (10%) and hydrogen (90%).

The lower part consists of a mixture of helium, hydrogen, ammonium and water. This layer is subdivided into three more:
- The upper one is ammonia in solid form, which has a temperature of -145 ° C with a pressure of 1 atm.
- In the middle is ammonium hydrosulfate in a crystallized state.
- The bottom position is occupied by water in a solid state and possibly even in a liquid state. The temperature is about 130 °C, and the pressure is 1 atm.

A layer consisting of hydrogen in the metallic state. Temperatures can vary from 6.3 thousand to 21 thousand kelvins. At the same time, the pressure is also variable - from 200 to 4 thousand GPa.
Stone core.

The creation of this model became possible due to the analysis of observations and studies, taking into account the laws of extrapolation and thermodynamics. It should be noted that this structural structure does not have clear boundaries and transitions between adjacent layers, and this, in turn, indicates that each layer is completely localized, and they can be studied separately.

Atmosphere of Jupiter

Temperature indicators of growth throughout the planet are not monotonous. In the atmosphere of Jupiter, as well as in the atmosphere of the Earth, several layers can be distinguished. The upper layers of the atmosphere have the highest temperatures, and moving towards the surface of the planet, these indicators are significantly reduced, but in turn the pressure increases.

The thermosphere of the planet loses most of the heat of the planet itself, and the so-called aurora is also formed here. The upper boundary of the thermosphere is considered to be a pressure mark of 1 nbar. During the study, data were obtained on the temperature in this layer, it reaches an indicator of 1000 K. Scientists have not yet been able to explain why there is such a high temperature here.

Data from the Galileo apparatus showed that the temperature of the upper clouds is -107 ° C at a pressure of 1 atmosphere, and when descending to a depth of 146 kilometers, the temperature rises to +153 ° C and a pressure of 22 atmospheres.

The future of Jupiter and its satellites

Everyone knows that in the end, the Sun, like another star, will exhaust the entire supply of thermonuclear fuel, while its luminosity will increase by 11% every billion years. Due to this, the familiar habitable zone will significantly shift beyond the orbit of our planet until reaching the surface of Jupiter. This will make it possible to melt all the water on the moons of Jupiter, which will allow the birth of living organisms on the planet to begin. It is known that in 7.5 billion years the Sun as a star will turn into a red giant, due to this, Jupiter will acquire a new status and become a hot Jupiter. In this case, the surface temperature of the planet will be about 1000 K, and this will lead to the glow of the planet. In this case, the satellites will look like lifeless deserts.

Moons of Jupiter

Modern data say that Jupiter has 67 natural satellites. According to scientists, it can be concluded that there can be more than a hundred such objects around Jupiter. The satellites of the planet are named mainly after mythical characters who are to some extent connected with Zeus. All satellites are divided into two groups: external and internal. Only 8 satellites belong to the internal ones, among which are the Galilean ones.

The first satellites of Jupiter were discovered in 1610 by the famous scientist Galileo Galilei, these are Europa, Ganymede, Io and Callisto. This discovery was a confirmation of the correctness of Copernicus and his heliocentric system.

The second half of the 20th century was marked by active study of space objects, among which Jupiter deserves special attention. This planet has been studied with powerful ground-based telescopes and radio telescopes, but the biggest advances in this industry have come from the use of the Hubble telescope and the launch of a large number of probes to Jupiter. Research is actively continuing at the moment, since Jupiter still holds many secrets and mysteries.

Jupiter is the largest planet. The diameter of the planet is 11 times the diameter of the Earth and is 142,718 km.

Around Jupiter there is a thin ring encircling it. The density of the ring is very small, so it is invisible (like Saturn).

Jupiter's rotation period around its axis is 9 hours 55 minutes. At the same time, each point of the equator moves at a speed of 45,000 km / h.

Since Jupiter is not a solid ball, but consists of gas and liquid, its equatorial parts rotate faster than the polar regions. The axis of rotation of Jupiter is almost perpendicular to its orbit, therefore, the change of seasons on the planet is weakly expressed.

The mass of Jupiter far exceeds the mass of all other planets in the solar system combined, and is 1.9. 10 27 kg. In this case, the average density of Jupiter is 0.24 of the average density of the Earth.

General characteristics of the planet Jupiter

Atmosphere of Jupiter

Jupiter's atmosphere is very dense. It consists of hydrogen (89%) and helium (11%), resembling the Sun in chemical composition (Fig. 1). Its length is 6000 km. orange color atmosphere
give phosphorus or sulfur compounds. For people, it is fatal, as it contains toxic ammonia and acetylene.

Different parts of the planet's atmosphere rotate at different speeds. This difference gave rise to belts of clouds, of which Jupiter has three: above - clouds of icy ammonia; below them are crystals of ammonium hydrogen sulfide and methane, and in the lowest layer - water ice and, possibly, liquid water. The temperature of the upper clouds is 130 °C. In addition, Jupiter has a hydrogen and helium corona. Winds on Jupiter reach speeds of 500 km/h.

Jupiter's landmark is the Great Red Spot, which has been observed for 300 years. It was discovered in 1664 by an English naturalist Robert Hooke(1635-1703). Now its length reaches 25,000 km, and 100 years ago it was about 50,000 km. This spot was first described in 1878 and sketched 300 years ago. It seems to live its own life - it expands, then it contracts. Its color also changes.

The American probes Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, Galileo found out that the spot does not have a solid surface, it rotates like a cyclone in the Earth's atmosphere. The Great Red Spot is believed to be an atmospheric phenomenon, probably the tip of a cyclone raging in Jupiter's atmosphere. A white spot larger than 10,000 km in size has also been found in Jupiter's atmosphere.

As of March 1, 2009, Jupiter has 63 known satellites. The largest of them are No and Europa the size of Mercury. They are always turned to Jupiter on one side, like the Moon to the Earth. These satellites are called Galilean, as they were first discovered by an Italian physicist, mechanic and astronomer. Galileo Galilei(1564-1642) in 1610, testing his telescope. Io has active volcanoes.

Rice. 1. Composition of Jupiter's atmosphere

The twenty outer moons of Jupiter are so far from the planet that they are invisible from its surface to the naked eye, and Jupiter in the sky of the most distant of them looks smaller than the Moon.

The planet Jupiter is the largest gas giant in the solar system. Its mass exceeds the mass of all other objects in our system combined. Therefore, it was not for nothing that the giant was named after the most supreme god of the ancient Roman pantheon.

Photo taken on 04/21/2014 by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).

Jupiter is the fifth planet of the solar system. Giant hurricanes constantly rage on its surface, one of which exceeds the size of the Earth in diameter. Another record for the planet is the number of its satellites, of which only 79 have been discovered so far. Unique features have made it one of the most interesting objects in the solar system to observe.

History of discovery and research

Observations of the gas giant have been made since ancient times. The Sumerians called the planet "white star". Astronomers of ancient China described in detail the movement of the planet, and the Incas observed the satellites, calling it a "granary". The Romans named the planet in honor of the supreme deity and the father of all ancient Roman gods.

The planet was first seen through a telescope by Galileo Galilei. He also discovered the 4 largest satellites of Jupiter. Observations of the planet and its moons also helped medieval astronomers calculate the approximate speed of light.

The gas giant began to be actively studied in the 20th century after the appearance of interplanetary stations and space telescopes. It is noteworthy that all spacecraft launched to it belong to NASA. The first high-resolution images of the planet were taken by the Voyager series interplanetary spacecraft. The first orbital satellite, the Galileo spacecraft, helped to establish the composition of the Jovian atmosphere and the dynamics of processes inside it, as well as to obtain new information about the natural satellites of the gas giant. The Juno interplanetary station, launched in 2011, is studying the poles of Jupiter. In the near future, it is planned to launch an American-European and Russian-European interplanetary mission to study the fifth planet from the Sun and its many satellites.

General information about Jupiter

The size of the planet is truly impressive. The diameter of Jupiter is almost 11 times larger than that of the earth and is 140 thousand km. The mass of the gas giant is 1.9 * 10 27, which is more than the total mass of all other planets, satellites and asteroids of the solar system. The surface area of Jupiter is 6.22 * 10 10 sq. km. To realize all the greatness of the giant, it is worth understanding that only in the Great Red Spot in its atmosphere can fit 2 planets like the Earth.

Another unique feature is the number of satellites. At the moment, 79 of them have been studied, but, according to researchers, the total number of Jupiter's moons is at least one hundred. All of them are named after the heroes of ancient Roman and ancient Greek myths associated with the most powerful god in the pantheon. For example, Io and Europa are satellites named after the lovers of the ancient Greek god of thunder. In addition to satellites, the planet has a system of planetary rings called the Rings of Jupiter.

The largest planet in the solar system is also the oldest. Jupiter's core formed over a million years after the formation of our system. While solid objects slowly formed from dust and protoplanetary debris, the gas giant quickly grew to its enormous size. Due to its intense accretion, the planetary giant prevented the penetration of additional material to build the entire star system, which explains the small size of objects inside it.

Orbit and radius

The average distance from the planet to the central star of our system is 780 million km. Jupiter's orbit is not very eccentric - 0.049.

Moving at an average orbital velocity of 13 km/s, it completes a revolution in its orbit in 11.9 years. At the same time, the change of seasons is not typical for it - the inclination of the rotation axis to the orbit is only 3.1 °. Jupiter rotates around its axis at a very high speed and makes a complete revolution in 9 hours 55 minutes. A day on the planet is considered the shortest in the entire solar system.

physical characteristics

The main parameters of the second largest object in the solar system:

The average radius of Jupiter is 69.9 thousand km.
Weight - 1.9 * 10 27 kg.
The average density value is 1.33 g / cu. cm, which is approximately equal to the density of the Sun.
The free fall acceleration at the equator is 24.8 m/s 2 . This means that Jupiter's gravity is almost 2.5 times Earth's.

The structure of Jupiter

An atmosphere with a three-layer structure: an outer pure hydrogen layer, then a hydrogen-helium layer (gas ratio 9:1) and a lower layer of ammonia and water clouds.
Hydrogen mantle up to 50 thousand km deep.
A solid core with a mass exceeding 10 times that of the earth.

Reliably the chemical composition of the planet is currently impossible to determine. It is known that its main components are hydrogen and helium, which pass from their gaseous state to liquid. In addition to them, the atmosphere of the planet contains many simple substances and inert gases. Compounds of phosphorus and sulfur give the characteristic color to the Jovian gaseous envelope.

Atmosphere and climate

The hydrogen-helium atmosphere smoothly passes into the liquid hydrogen mantle, without a delineated lower boundary.

The lower layer of Jupiter's atmosphere, the troposphere, is characterized by a complex structure of clouds. The upper clouds are composed of ammonia ice and ammonium sulfide, followed by a dense layer of water clouds. The temperature in the troposphere decreases with increasing altitude from 340 to 110K. The stratosphere gradually warms up to 200K, and the maximum temperature value (1000K) is recorded in the thermosphere. The average temperature of Jupiter cannot be calculated due to the lack of an integral surface. Its atmosphere is bordered by a boiling ocean of liquid hydrogen. The core of the planet warms up to 35 thousand degrees Celsius, which is higher than the temperature of the Sun.

The pressure of the gas envelope tends to decrease with distance from the hydrogen ocean. At the lower level of the troposphere, it reaches 10 bar, while in the thermosphere the pressure drops to 1 nanobar.

There is no good weather on the giant. The thermal energy coming from the core turns the planet's atmosphere into one huge whirlwind. Jupiterian winds reach speeds of 2160 km/h. The most famous hurricane in the planet's atmosphere is the Great Red Spot. It has been going on for more than 300 years, and its area at the moment is 40 * 13 thousand km. At the same time, the speed of air flows reaches more than 500m/s. Jupiter's lightning vortices are accompanied by a length of several thousand kilometers and a power many times greater than the earth's.

Diamond showers periodically occur in Jupiter's atmosphere. Precious carbon deposits fall out of methane vapor during a lightning discharge under the influence of high temperature and pressure prevailing in the upper atmosphere.

Relief

The surface of Jupiter is not quite the right concept. The hydrogen-helium atmosphere smoothly passes into the mantle, which is an ocean of metallic hydrogen. The mantle continues to a depth of 45,000 km, and then follows the core, ten times heavier than the Earth and several times hotter than the Sun.

Rings

Jupiter's rings are faint and made up of dust formed when moons collide.

The ring system has the following structure:

halo ring, which is a thick layer of dust;
thin and bright main ring;
2 outer "spider" rings.

The main and halo rings were formed from the dust from the moons of Metis and Adrastea, and the gossamer rings of Jupiter were formed thanks to Almatea and Thebe.

According to presumable data, there is another thin and faint ring near the satellites of the Himalayas, which arose after its collision with a smaller satellite.

Moons of Jupiter

In total, the planet has more than a hundred satellites, of which only 79 are open. They are divided into internal, the number of which is 8, and external (currently 71). The largest Jupiterian moons are united in a group called Galilean, because. they were discovered by Galileo Galilei. This group includes , and .

Europa is a vast subglacial ocean. Life is theoretically possible on this satellite, because there may be oxygen under the ice shell.

Io, like its planetary master , does not have a clearly defined surface. This satellite is filled with lava from two powerful volcanoes. From this, he acquired a yellow color with spots of brown, brown and red.

Ganymede is the largest moon of Jupiter and the entire solar system. It consists of mineral salts of silicic acids and ice, and also has its own magnetosphere and thin atmosphere. Ganymede is also larger than the smallest planet in the solar system (5262 km versus 4879 km).

Callisto is the second largest satellite of the giant. Its surface is composed of silicates, ice and organic compounds. The atmosphere is represented by carbon dioxide with minor impurities of other gases. Callisto is pitted with large impact craters, which gave it a characteristic relief.

Planet Jupiter interesting facts

No spacecraft can operate near the giant's orbit because of the powerful radiation belts.
With its powerful gravitational field, it protects the planets of the inner group, including the Earth, from comets and asteroids arriving from outside.
To visually compare the size of the Earth and the fifth planet, place a basketball next to a five-kopeck coin.
Theoretically, a person weighing 80 kg on the surface of Jupiter would weigh 192 kg. This is due to the fact that the gravity on the gas giant is 2.4 times that of the earth.
If, at the time of formation, he managed to increase the mass 80 times more than the current one, a second star would have arisen in the solar system. It would be classified as a brown dwarf.
The largest planet in the solar system emits the most powerful radio waves. They can be picked up even by shortwave antennas on Earth. They are transformed into a rather unusual audio signal, which some mistake for signals from aliens.
The average flight time to the gas giant is 5 years. AMS "New Horizons" faster than all other probes overcame the distance to Jupiter's orbit. It took her a little over a year to do this.