Everything about the largest planet in our solar system - Jupiter. Ten truths: size, location, gravity, origin of name, visitation by satellites, magnetic field, rotation, rings and hurricanes on the planet. Our Universe is a mysterious place where many stars and galactic systems are located. Our entire solar system includes eight planets. Each of these planets has its own distinctive features. The planet Jupiter is considered the most mysterious and unusual.
The size and location of Jupiter
The great planet Jupiter is located between Saturn and Mars, from the Sun it is considered the fifth planet. Jupiter is rightfully referred to as the largest planet in our system, its dimensions are truly enormous, in order for one Jupiter to form, it is necessary to bring together one thousand three hundred planets as large as our Earth. The force of gravity on Jupiter is two point and five tenths greater than the force of gravity on Earth. For example, a person whose mass is one hundred kilograms, on Jupiter will have a weight of 250 kilograms. In terms of its mass, it exceeds the mass of the Earth by three hundred and seventeen times, and at the same time it weighs two and five tenths more than all other planets combined in the solar system.
The emergence of the name Jupiter
Jupiter is named after the most important god in ancient Roman mythology. Saturn, was the father of Jupiter, and the latter had two brothers, Neptune and Pluto. The ancient Roman god Jupiter had a wife Juno, but this did not prevent him from having intimate relationships with other women too. From these connections, children were naturally born. The lovers of the ancient Roman god Jupiter are Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io, four huge moons of the planet Jupiter.
Visiting the planet by space satellites
The very first space satellite that visited Jupiter was Pioneer - 10. In total, eight space satellites visited Jupiter: New Horizon, Cassini, Ulysses, Galileo, Voyager - 2, Voyager - 1, Pioneer -11 and Pioneer - 10. In two in the eleventh year, the satellite Juno was sent to this giant planet, which will reach its goal in two thousand and sixteen.
Seeing Jupiter in the open sky
In the beautiful night sky, this planet is easy to spot, it is the number three object in its brightness. The Moon and Venus are the first two bright objects, with Jupiter shining better than the brightest star on Sirius. If you have a telescope or professional binoculars, you can see the Jupiter white disk and its four planetary moons in the night sky.
The powerful magnetic field of the planet Jupiter
Jupiter has the most powerful magnetic field in our solar system. The strength of the Jupiter magnetic field is fourteen times the strength of the earth's magnetic field. Scientists - astronomers believe that the power of such a field is created due to the constant movement, inside the planet itself, of metallic hydrogen. Jupiter is inherently a very powerful radioactive source that can harm any space satellite sent from Earth.
Self-rotation and the sphere of Jupiter
This cosmic body has a huge weight, but this does not prevent it from rotating around its axis faster than all other planets in our solar system. For one self-rotation, Jupiter needs ten hours, but at the same time, it takes twelve years to revolve around a star called the Sun. Such a rapid self-rotation of Jupiter occurs due to a powerful magnetic field and strong radioactivity around the planet itself.
Jupiter rings
Jupiter has four rings. The most important of them remained after the meteorites collided with four satellites - Amalthea, Metis, Adrastea and Thebes. The rings of the planet do not contain ice, as, for example, the rings of Saturn. More recently, scientists - astronomers have discovered another ring, which is closest to the planet, and named it the Halo.
Hurricanes on Jupiter
Jupiter hurricanes are very similar to Earth hurricanes. Hurricanes on it last for four days, but there are absolutely calm for months. Jupiter storms always occur together with lightning, but the power of Jupiter hurricanes is much larger than on Earth. Very powerful storms on Jupiter occur once every seventeen years and their speed reaches up to one hundred and fifty meters per second.
Many satellites of Jupiter
There are sixty-three satellite planets around Jupiter. In one thousand six hundred and ten, Galileo Galilei discovered, as it later turned out, four fairly large-scale satellites - the planets around Jupiter. The largest satellite is considered Ganymede, its length is five thousand two hundred and sixty-two kilometers, that is, it exceeds the size of the planet Mercury. Ganymede is completely covered in ice, it makes a revolution around Jupiter for seven days. Io is a rather difficult and very mysterious satellite; very strong volcanoes, whole lakes of volcanic lava and huge pits called calderas are raging here. On Io there are mountains with a height of sixteen kilometers. Io's moon is much closer to Jupiter than the moon is to Earth. Most of Jupiter's satellites are less than ten kilometers in diameter.
Huge red spot
Giovanni Cassini was one of the first to reveal, in one thousand six hundred and sixty-five, a huge red spot. It looks like a very large anticyclone - a hurricane, and a hundred years ago its length was forty thousand kilometers. Today its length is half that. The huge red spot is considered the largest atmospheric hurricane in our solar system. Three planets can be distributed along its length, which coincide in size with the Earth. Its rotation speed is four hundred thirty-five kilometers per hour and it rotates in the opposite direction, that is, not clockwise.
