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Science & Nature
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To Jupiter …
and Beyond!
by Conrad J. Storad
If you’ve been reading this column over past
issues you might be a bit tired. But your sense
of adventure should be fully engaged. Our imaginary
journey through the inner portion of our solar system
has been intense, but interesting. Your spacecraft is
holding up well after years of travel. So are you and
the members of your crew. To date, your team has
logged visits to Mercury and Venus. After a quick stop
in Earth’s orbit to resupply, you successfully made the
long journey to explore the wilds of Mars.
This full-disc image of Jupiter was taken on April 21, 2014 with Hubble’s
Wide Field Camera 3. Notice the Great Red Spot. Photo courtesy of
NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center)
An unmanned supply ship from Earth reached you
while in orbit around Mars. The ship is refueled and
restocked with food and gear. Now it’s time to put some
serious miles between the ship, the Red Planet and
Earth, the small blue planet we call home.
Gear up. Your ship is heading through the asteroid belt
and on to giant Jupiter!
Traveling through the asteroid belt will be intense.
But you have good maps, thanks to previous robotic
exploration missions. The belt is a region of space
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. There are
millions of asteroids there.
Some scientists think that the asteroid belt could be the
bits and pieces of a planet that broke apart a very long
time ago. Others think the massive cloud of rocks and
icy dust could be very old material that was never able
to form into a planet.
You will see asteroids of all shapes and sizes. The
smallest are less than a mile across. Others are quite
large. The biggest asteroid is called Ceres. It is about
one-quarter the size of our moon. Astronomers call it a
dwarf planet, much like Pluto.
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Approximate size comparison of Earth superimposed on this Dec 29,
2000 image. Photo courtesy of NASA.
During the late 1990s, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft
flew through the asteroid belt, twice. The first time
through, it sent back to Earth the first ever spacecraft
images of an asteroid. The second time through, Galileo
discovered an asteroid named Ida. Ida had a small
moon of its own that scientists named Dactyl. That was
exciting stuff.
Science & Nature
In September 2003, the Galileo spacecraft ended its
14-year mission by plunging into the dense atmosphere
of Jupiter. Moving at more than 100,000 miles per hour,
it was crushed, disintegrated and lost forever. But that
little spacecraft taught us much about Jupiter. Never fear,
your spaceship will not have the same fate.
When you get to Jupiter, you will find it to be a massive
planet. It is the largest of the gas giant planets, which
include Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. All by itself,
Jupiter contains about two-thirds of the planetary mass
of the entire solar system. A fish bowl the size of Jupiter
could hold 1,300 Earths. But the giant Jupiter is only
318 times heavier than Earth. Why? Because Earth is
four times denser than this massive ball of gas.
Scientists say that Jupiter contains about the same
concentration of hydrogen as the sun itself. It also
contains a concentration of materials similar to what
was found in the solar system when the planets first
formed more than 4.6 billion years ago.
The atmosphere of Jupiter contains mostly hydrogen.
There is also some helium and trace amounts of water,
ammonia and other gases. It is very cold there, about
180 degrees below zero.
More than 300 years ago, astronomers on Earth got
the first good look at the Great Red Spot. The spot is
one of Jupiter’s best known features. The spot is really
just a gigantic storm. It’s the biggest hurricane in the
solar system. And it goes on and on and on. The storm
is so big, it would swallow up two Earths. Wind speeds
within the storm can reach hundreds of miles per hour.
Below Jupiter’s atmosphere is an outer mantle made
of liquid hydrogen and helium. Below that is an inner
mantle made of liquid metallic hydrogen. The substance
does not exist on Earth.
No member of your team will be landing on the surface
of Jupiter. There really is no land on which to land.
Jupiter’s rocky core is much larger than Earth itself. But
it is also extremely hot. The temperature is more than
54,000 degrees Fahrenheit!
It will be best to observe mighty Jupiter from your
spaceship while safely in orbit above.
Beyond Jupiter and its many moons await the gas
giants, the outer planets of our solar system. Beyond
them orbits the dwarf planet Pluto, and hundreds or
even thousands more similar chunks of ice and rock.
Beyond them all awaits the vast void of interstellar space.
Moons, moons and more moons!
The planets are not the only places to explore in our
solar system. There are moons galore. Of course,
Earth has one amazing moon. Jupiter has 50 moons.
Scientists are checking out 17 more. Saturn has
53 official moons, with nine more possibilities.
Astronomers currently list 146 known moons orbiting
the planets. There are 27 more objects awaiting official
confirmation as a moon. The total does not include
moons in orbit around dwarf planets or asteroids.
Solar system travel kit:
Would you like to know how much you would weigh on
Jupiter or on other planets in our solar system? Pack
the nifty calculator from the website below in your
travel kit. It will be a handy tool to help you prepare for
your visits to all the new worlds.
For example, if you weigh 150 pounds on Earth, you will
weigh 354 pounds on Jupiter or 10 pounds on Pluto.
Resources to learn more
about the Solar System:
WEBSITES:
• Chain Reaction – Solar System,
Arizona State University
http://chainreaction.asu.edu/solarsystem/
• Moon Stuff for Kids
http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/learn
• NASA for Kids – Kid Friendly Solar System
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/kids/
• Fun views of the Solar System
http://solarviews.com/eng/homepage.htm
• Nifty weight calculator
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/
Conrad J. Storad
The award-winning author and editor of more than
50 science and nature books for children and young
adults, Conrad J. Storad expertly draws young readers
into his imaginative and entertaining “classroom”
to help them better understand and appreciate the
natural world.
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