Death of a Comet“Racing toward Jupiter, doomed Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke into 21 icy chunks by May 1994, creating a stream of glowing dots across more than 700,000 miles of space. Each fragment collided with the planet two months later, in fiery displays that raised plumes thousands of miles high and left dark impact scars on the planetʼs face.” This is a photograph of Jupiter when comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hit the planetʼs surface. Photo of impact scars on the surface of Jupiter. |
Written by Danielle
Hi, I have been studying about the planet Jupiter. Ever wondered about that red spot? Did you know that is actually a giant storm that has been there for 170 years.
Some of my questions about Jupiter:
How far is Jupiter from Earth? From the Sun?
Source: The Solar System
JUPITER Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. 483 million miles from the sun… Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system. It is a giant ball of gas with a rocky center. No one has ever seen the surface of Jupiter, it is covered with thick clouds. These clouds are white, yellow, tan, orange, and red. Strong winds blow the clouds around. It is freezing cold at the top of the clouds and boiling hot in the center of Jupiter.
One year on Jupiter is as long as 12 years on Earth and one day is almost 10 hours long.
Jupiterʼs Moons
The moon “Io” which revolves around Jupiter… one of many moons known to exist.
Source: Website on Space and Astronomy
Jupiterʼs Moon Count Soars to 52 with Four New Discoveries
The tally of Jovian moons has soared to 52 with the discovery of four small moons added to eight that were previously revealed last week. The total may represent roughly half of all the giant planetʼs satellites larger than 0.62 miles. (1 kilometer).
Included in the latest batch are two rocks estimated to be just 0.62 miles (1 kilometer) in diameter. These are the first Jovian satellites calculated to be less than 2 kilometers. Jupiter has 29 moons that are no more than 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) wide and several more that arenʼt much bigger. These small satellites are thought to be captured asteroids or chunks of larger objects that broke apart, though their exact origins have not been determined. Many of them orbit in a direction opposite the planetʼs rotation.
“The Great Red Spot (above) is a hurricane-like storm that has persisted in the atmosphere of Jupiter for at least 170 years.
Nearly twice the size of Earth, it rotates in a counter clockwise direction about every six days with winds up to 250 miles an hour that can gobble up smaller storms passing nearby.”
Source: Exploring the Solar System, National Geographic, page 29
Which of the 9 planets is closer to the size of Jupiter?
Source: www.idahoptv.org/
Size of Planets Table
Planet |
Diameter |
Diameter of Model |
Mercury |
4,900 km |
5 mm |
|
Venus |
12,100 km |
12 mm |
|
Earth |
12,800 km |
13 mm |
|
Mars |
6,800 km |
7 mm |
|
Jupiter |
143,000 km |
143 mm |
|
Saturn |
125,000 km |
121 mm |
|
Uranus |
51,100 km |
51 mm |
|
Neptune |
49,500 km |
50 mm |
|
Pluto |
2,300 km |
2 mm |
Saturn is the second largest planet in our Solar System, next to Jupiter.
What are the names of some of Jupiterʼs moons?
Some of Jupiterʼs Moons
Source: Jupiterʼs Moons
Io discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei.
Europa discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei.
Ganymede discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei.
Callisto discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei
Metis discovered in 1979 by S. Sunnott
Adrastea discovered in 1979 by Jewitt and Danielson
Amalthea discovered in 1892 by E. Barnard
Thebe discovered in 1979 by S. Synnott
Leda discovered in 1974 by C. Kowal
Himalia discovered in 1904 by C. Perrine
Lysithea discovered in 1938 by S. Nicholson
Elara discovered in 1905 by C. Perrine
Ananke discovered in 1951 by S. Nicholson
Carme discovered in 1938 by S. Nicholson
Pasiphae discovered in 1908 by P. Melotte
Sinope discovered in 1914 by S. Nicholson
Callirrhoe discovered in 1999 by Spacewatch Project Minor Planet Center
The god Jupiter the planet was named after.
Planet as defined in Astrology includes all of the seven heavenly bodies which ancient astrologers could see in the sky, plus the three planets discovered since the invention of telescopes. The Planets, listed in order of distance from the Sun (with their Roman/Greek mythical links) are:
- Mercury - named after Mercurius or Hermes (Messenger of the gods)
- Venus - named after Venus or Aphrodite (goddess of Love and Beauty)
- Mars - named after Mars or Ares (god of War)
- Jupiter - named after Jupiter (Jove), or Zeus (King of gods)
- Saturn - named after Saturn or Kronos (god of Time)
- Uranus - named after Uranus or Ouranos (god of Sky)
- Neptune - named after Neptune or Poseidon (god of Sea)
- Pluto - named after Pluto or Hades (god of Underworld)
Though the Sun (a Star) and the Moon (a satellite of Planet Earth) are not planets by the usual definition, for the sake of convenience astrologers refer to them as “Planets” too:
Sun - named after Sol or Helios (also associated with Apollo)
Moon - named after Luna or Hecate (also associated with Diana)
In Geocentric (Earth-centered) Astrology, the Earth itself is usually not included in the Planet list because we are living on it and are a part of it. We donʼt see it in the sky. In Heliocentric (Sun-centered) Astrology, the Earth is considered a Planet because the Sun is the point of observation.
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