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Jupiter

Jupiter Astronomical symbol of Jupiter
An image of Jupiter taken by the Hubble Space Telescope
Full-disc view of Jupiter in natural color in April 2014
Designations
Pronunciation Listeni/ˈptər/
Adjectives
Orbital characteristics
Epoch J2000
Aphelion 5.45492 AU (816.04 Gm)
Perihelion 4.95029 AU (740.55 Gm)
5.20260 AU (778.299 Gm)
Eccentricity 0.048498
  • 11.8618 yr
  • 4,332.59 d
  • 10,475.8 Jovian solar days
398.88 d
Average orbital speed
13.07 km/s
20.020°
Inclination
100.464°
273.867°
Known satellites 67 (as of 2014)
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
69,911±6 km
Equatorial radius
  • 71,492±4 km
  • 11.209 Earths
Polar radius
  • 66,854±10 km
  • 10.517 Earths
Flattening 0.06487±0.00015
  • 6.1419×1010 km2
  • 121.9 Earths
Volume
  • 1.4313×1015 km3
  • 1,321 Earths
Mass
  • 1.8986×1027 kg
  • 317.8 Earths
  • 1/1047 Sun
Mean density
1.326 g/cm3
24.79 m/s2
2.528 g
0.254
59.5 km/s
Sidereal rotation period
9.925 h (9 h 55 m 30 s)
Equatorial rotation velocity
12.6 km/s
45300 km/h
3.13° (to orbit)
North pole right ascension
268.057°
17h 52m 14s
North pole declination
64.496°
Albedo 0.343 (Bond)
0.52 (geom.)
Surface temp. min mean max
1 bar level 165 K (−108 °C)
0.1 bar 112 K
−1.6 to −2.94
29.8″ to 50.1″
Atmosphere
Surface pressure
20–200 kPa (cloud layer)
27 km
Composition by volume

by volume:

89.8±2.0% hydrogen (H2)
10.2±2.0% helium (He)
≈ 0.3% methane (CH4)
≈ 0.026% ammonia (NH3)
≈ 0.003% hydrogen deuteride (HD)
0.0006% ethane (C2H6)
0.0004% water (H2O)

Ices:


by volume:

Ices:

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Jupiter is a gas giant, along with Saturn, with the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, being ice giants. Jupiter was known to astronomers of ancient times. The Romans named it after their god Jupiter. When viewed from Earth, Jupiter can reach an apparent magnitude of −2.94, bright enough for its reflected light to cast shadows, and making it on average the third-brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus.

Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium, though helium comprises only about a tenth of the number of molecules. It may also have a rocky core of heavier elements, but like the other giant planets, Jupiter lacks a well-defined solid surface. Because of its rapid rotation, the planet's shape is that of an oblate spheroid (it has a slight but noticeable bulge around the equator). The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries. A prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope. Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere. Jupiter has at least 67 moons, including the four large Galilean moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of these, has a diameter greater than that of the planet Mercury.


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Wikipedia

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