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| a s t r o n o m y w i t h t r u |
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| Jupiter Fifth Planet from the Sun |
| Jupiter is a "gas giant"; all gas giants are similar in composition. It's diameter is 11 times Earth's diameter and 20% larger than Saturn's, making it the largest planet in the solar system. Gas giant are also very much larger than terrestrial planets. This color-enhanced image was taken by Voyager 1. Jupiter - Fifth Planet from the sun. In Roman mythology, ruler of the gods. (Greek name, Zeus). |
| credits: Hubble |
| Moon Io |
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| This false-color picture of a convective thunderstorm 10,000 kilometers (6,218 miles) northwest of Jupiter's Great Red Spot was obtained by NASA's Galileo spacecraft on June 26, 1996. The white cloud in the center is a tall, thick cloud 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) across, standing 25 kilometers (15 miles) higher than most of the surrounding clouds. Its base extends off to the left and appears red in this representation. This red color indicates that the cloud base is very deep in the atmosphere, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) below the surrounding clouds. Most of the wisps and features in Jupiter's clouds are thick and thin ammonia clouds, forming at a pressure just less than Earth's sea level pressure. On Jupiter, water is the only substance to form a cloud at a depth where the pressure is about five times the Earth's sea level pressure. The red base of this thunderstorm is so deep that it can only be a water cloud. |
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| Mass (kg) 1.90 x 1027 Diameter (km) 142,800 Mean density (kg/m3) 1314 Escape velocity (m/sec) 59500 Average distance from Sun (AU) 5.203 Rotation period (length of day in Earth days) 9.8 Revolution period (length of year in Earth days) 11.86 Obliquity (tilt of axis degrees) 3.08 Orbit inclination (degrees) 1.3 Orbit eccentricity (deviation from circular) 0.048 Mean surface temperature (K) 120 (cloud tops) Visual geometric albedo (reflectivity) 0.44 Atmospheric components 90% hydrogen, 10% helium, .07% methane Rings Faint ring. Infrared spectra imply dark rock fragments |
| Jupiter Profile |