Jupiter
In 1979, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 flew past Jupiter, the largest planet and the fifth planet from the Sun. Galileo reached Jupiter in 1995. the spacecrafts gatheredd new information about Jupiter's atmosphere and discovered three new moons. Voyager probes also revealed that Jupiter has faint dust rings around it and that one of its moons has volcanoes on it.
Jupiter's Atmosphere
Jupiter is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with some ammonia, methane, and water vapot. Scientists hypothesize that the atmosphere of hydrogen and helium gradually changes to a planetwide ocean of liquid hydrogen and helium toward the middle of the planet.Below this liquid layer might be a solid rocky core. The extreme presure and temperature, however, would make the core different from any rock on Earth.
You've probable seen pictures from the probes of Jupiter's colorful clouds. You can see bands of white, red, tan, and brown clouds in its atmosphere. Continous storms of swirling, high-pressure gas have been obseved on Jupiter. The Great Red Spot is the most spectacular of these storms. Lightning has been observed within Jupiter's clouds.
Moons of Jupiter
At least 28 moons orbit Jupiter. In 1610, the astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first person to see Jupiter's four largest moons. Io is the closest large moon to Jupiter. Jupiter's tremendous gravitational force aand the gravity of Europa, Jupiter's next large moon, pull on Io. This force heats up Io, causing it to be the most volcanically active object in the solar system. Europa is composed mostly of rock with a thick, smooth crust of ice. Under the ice might be an ocean as deep as 50 kilometers. If this ocean of water exists, it will be the only place in the solar systen, other than Earth and possibly Ganymede and Callisto, wher liquid water exists in large quanities. Next is Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar sysem, larger even than the planet Mercury. Callisto, the last of Jupiter's large moons, is composed mostly of ice and rock. Studying these moons adds to knowledge about the origin of Earth and the rest of the solar system.
Jupiter's Atmosphere
Jupiter is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, with some ammonia, methane, and water vapot. Scientists hypothesize that the atmosphere of hydrogen and helium gradually changes to a planetwide ocean of liquid hydrogen and helium toward the middle of the planet.Below this liquid layer might be a solid rocky core. The extreme presure and temperature, however, would make the core different from any rock on Earth.
You've probable seen pictures from the probes of Jupiter's colorful clouds. You can see bands of white, red, tan, and brown clouds in its atmosphere. Continous storms of swirling, high-pressure gas have been obseved on Jupiter. The Great Red Spot is the most spectacular of these storms. Lightning has been observed within Jupiter's clouds.
Moons of Jupiter
At least 28 moons orbit Jupiter. In 1610, the astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first person to see Jupiter's four largest moons. Io is the closest large moon to Jupiter. Jupiter's tremendous gravitational force aand the gravity of Europa, Jupiter's next large moon, pull on Io. This force heats up Io, causing it to be the most volcanically active object in the solar system. Europa is composed mostly of rock with a thick, smooth crust of ice. Under the ice might be an ocean as deep as 50 kilometers. If this ocean of water exists, it will be the only place in the solar systen, other than Earth and possibly Ganymede and Callisto, wher liquid water exists in large quanities. Next is Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar sysem, larger even than the planet Mercury. Callisto, the last of Jupiter's large moons, is composed mostly of ice and rock. Studying these moons adds to knowledge about the origin of Earth and the rest of the solar system.