Jupiter - the largest planet in the solar system, she is the fifth from the Sun. This celestial body, named after the Greek god of all gods Zeus, the son of Kronos (Saturn), and also the keeper of the Roman Empire, is a real gas giant among the planets, exceeding at least twice the size of all the planets combined (the mass of Jupiter is 318 times greater than Earth mass). The giant of the Solar system is very similar to the stars, but could not gain enough mass to start burning.
The largest planet in the solar system
Jupiter became the source of a real revolution in the scientific knowledge of the Universe, when in 1610 the great Galileo was able to discover four huge companions of the giant - Io, Europe, Ganymede and Callisto. This is the first time in history when large celestial bodies were seen spinning around an object other than Earth. This fact became the basis of the theory of Copernicus that the Earth is not the center of the universe.
Although seemingly serene, if you look at it from our relatively safe world, Jupiter is a chaotic and bustling place. The spots and turbulences of the gas giant are due to strong storms that disperse the prevailing winds at a speed of 540 km / h at the equator - faster than any hurricanes known on Earth.
But in the atmosphere of the giant there is also something mysterious - the Big Red Spot, which is a strong hurricane storm called an anticyclone. Our native planet has never seen anything comparable to such power: it rotates in the omnipresent oval, which is larger than the entire Earth, although it is constantly decreasing, starting from the very first days of observing it.
Interesting fact: Jupiter is one of the five planets that a person can see with the naked eye if he looks at the right time at the right place. Jupiter is also the fourth brightest celestial object in our solar system. Only the Sun, Venus and the Moon are brighter than him in the night sky.
Such an interesting planet, this Jupiter. Now let's take a closer look.
Composition structure of jupiter
Jupiter is a huge, supermassive gas ball into which all other planets of the solar system can be placed twice. If Jupiter was only 80 times larger, it would become a real star. The clouds of the raging giant consist of ammonia and water vapor, drifting in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Probably, the special chemical composition of the clouds is behind the pastel variety of the color scheme of Jupiter, but in reality, scientists still have not been able to fully explain this interesting appearance of the planet.
The atmosphere of Jupiter is similar to the solar, consisting mainly of hydrogen and helium. Colorful light and dark stripes are created by the strongest wind flows from east to west in the upper atmosphere. White clouds in bright areas consist of crystals of frozen ammonia, and the clouds are slightly darker from other chemicals. Due to the randomness of all processes occurring in the atmosphere of a giant, Jupiter's appearance is constantly changing. Sometimes the sky is filled with real rains of pure diamonds.
Below the upper gas layers, the pressure and temperature increase so much that the hydrogen atoms eventually compress into a liquid. Jupiter has a dense core of indefinite composition, surrounded by a helium-rich layer of liquid metallic hydrogen, which occupies up to 80-90% of the planet’s diameter.
The pressure rises so high that hydrogen loses its electrons, and in a chaotic disorder of intricate liquids an electric charge can appear, just like in metals.The incredibly fast rotation of the giant around its axis - Jupiter makes one revolution in 10 Earth hours - causes electric discharges that can affect and create the planet's magnetic field. It is 16 to 54 times more powerful than Earth.
Probably the most interesting place on the surface of Jupiter is the Big Red Spot, which is a huge storm-storm that has been going on for more than 300 years. The speed of rotation of air flows in it reaches 680 km / h. The color varies from brick red to slightly brown - this is probably due to the small amount of phosphorus and sulfur in the ammonia crystals in the clouds.
Interesting fact: It is not known whether Jupiter has a hard surface. Below the clouds, thousands of kilometers of layers of hydrogen and helium. Underneath is liquid hydrogen. Further, this liquid hydrogen becomes a hot liquid metal. It is still unknown whether there is a solid core under all this - temperatures would destroy any equipment that we could send there to get the necessary data. The temperature in the core should be sufficient to melt even titanium.
Distance from the Sun of Jupiter and Orbit
Average distance from the sun: 778,412,020 km. For comparison: 5.203 times more than Earth.
Perihelion (closest to the sun): 740,742,600 km. For comparison: 5.036 times more than Earth.
Afelion (farthest from the sun): 816,081,400 km. For comparison: 5.366 times more than Earth.
Rotation around its axis
Jupiter has the highest rotation speed around its in the solar system.. This space giant makes one revolution in less than ten hours. Such an outrageous speed greatly affects the shape of the gas planet, creating a huge bulge in the region of the equator. It can be seen even using the simplest amateur telescope.
- Diameter around the equator: 142,984 km.
- Jupiter mass: 1.900e27 kg
It is worth noting that Jupiter is a gas giant that does not have any solid surface, so the answer to the question regarding the speed of rotation of this mysterious celestial body around its axis cannot be given in the same categories as, for example, this with the earth.
Jupiter rotation speed calculation systems
The movements of atmospheric flows are very different depending on the latitude of their location. So the speed of rotation of streams located on the polar parts of the planet is as much as 5 minutes less than those located at the equator. Because of these differences, scientists had to develop three different systems for calculating the speed of rotation.
So the first of them applies to streams located in the region from 10 ° north latitude to 10 °, where the rotation speed is 9 hours 50 minutes and 30 seconds, the second - to all latitudes located outside these boundaries, here the speed is 9 hours 55 minutes and 40 seconds. The third system tried to combine the two approaches, proposing to calculate the speed of rotation on the magnetic sphere of the planet.
Rotation around the sun
Jupiter needs 4328 Earth days to complete one revolution around the Sun. Therefore, one year on the surface of Jupiter lasts 11.86 Earth years.
Jupiter's moons
Jupiter is the second brightest planet in the night sky after Venus. This allowed astronomers to discover and begin to study a huge planet hundreds of years ago. In January 1610, the astronomer Galileo Galilei noticed, as he thought, four little stars accompanying Jupiter. These fragments of light are actually the four largest moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Most of all the moons of Jupiter are no less interesting and mysterious than their master. The largest satellite in the solar system, Ganymede, is also the only satellite known for its own magnetic field. Volcanoes rage on the surface of Io, which gives it the title of the most volcanically active object in the solar system.
Scientists believe that Europe is covered by a deep, vast ocean under its ice crust, which makes it the main candidate for the hunt for alien life in the solar system. And Callisto, in turn, has the lowest reflectance, or albedo, of all four satellites. This suggests that its surface may consist of a dark, colorless stone.
But these four satellites are not the only ones. Jupiter has dozens of small satellites. In 2003 alone, as many as 23 new satellites were detected. In just one June in 2018, scientists recorded 12 more that wander along strange trajectories around a majestic planet.
Rings of jupiter
The discovery of three rings around Jupiter was a real discovery for scientists when NASA's Voyager 1 set off to explore the planet in 1979. They, as it becomes clear, are not as bright as those of Saturn.
The main ring is flattened. Its thickness is about 30 km and a width of more than 6400 km. The inner cloud-shaped ring, which was called the halo, has a thickness of 20,000 km. It was formed due to electromagnetic forces that repel dust particles from the main ring. This system extends from the upper clouds in the atmosphere and gradually expands. Both rings are made up of small dark dust particles.
The third ring, known as a thin ring because of its transparency, actually represents three rings of microscopic debris from the three moons of Jupiter - Amalthea, Thebes and Adrastea.
Research missions
Since Galileo first laid eyes on Jupiter, scientists have continued to study it, both from the surface of the Earth and from space. The first mission was accomplished with the help of Voyager 1, which gave scientists more than 10,000 images of the planet as it flew by.
And when NASA's Juno spacecraft began spinning around Jupiter in 2016, it quickly began to send breathtaking images. Stunning paintings showed that the planet is even more wild than we once thought. Juno was able to provide astounding data on which real flocks of cyclones were discovered rotating on the surface of a giant, the roots of which probably go deep beneath the upper bands of clouds.
More than one mission was sent to Jupiter, and there are at least two more plans to ship: NASA’s Europe Clipper (which will begin to be launched in the 2020s) and the European Moon Agency’s space agency, which will start in 2022 and will arrive into the Jupiter system in 2030 to study Ganymede, Callisto, and Europe.
“Pioneer 10” was able to reveal to us all the danger of the radiation belt of Jupiter, which exceeds the death threshold for man by 1,000 times, and his follower, “Pioneer 11” allowed us to dive deeper into the secrets of the Great Red Spot. Other “brothers” “Voyagers” 1 and 2 were able to create extensive and detailed maps of the moons of Jupiter, showed us invisible rings, and also presented data on the nature of Io, whose surface is covered with volcanoes spewing sulfur, creating strong magnetic fluxes that have a significant effect on Jupiter . And “New Horizons” gave us a completely different look at the seething beauty of the gas giant.
Is it possible to develop life on Jupiter?
The atmosphere of Jupiter becomes warmer with depth, reaching room temperature, or 21 ° C, at an altitude where atmospheric pressure is about 10 times higher than on Earth. Scientists suspect that if Jupiter has any form of life on the surface, it can only be at this level, that is, live completely in the air. However, the researchers did not find any evidence of life on Jupiter. Satellites are the best candidates for finding life.
Although this giant is considered a studied planet, which has been spent a lot of effort and money, scientists still have many questions that still have no answer.Therefore, they all continue to rush into the solid and insurmountable wall of the Unknown Universe with the vain hope of learning all the mysteries of the universe, finding solutions to the most complex puzzles of physics, chemistry and astronomy, sending new missions to the chaotically boiling giant. Space has not yet come to us, but, perhaps, having understood Jupiter, we can take an incredible step in the knowledge of the world around us.
