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Jupiter
View from Earth
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Jupiter is the fourth-brightest object in the
night sky
Jupiter is brightest when it is near
opposition
Hubble Space Telescope
image taken during
opposition in 1990
Photograph taken with a
ground based telescope,
several of the moons are
visible
Mass and Radius
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318 Earth masses
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Jupiter has more than twice the mass
of all the other planets combined
As massive as Jupiter is, it is still only a
thousandth the mass of the Sun
11.2 Earth radii
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More than 1400 Earths would be
needed to equal the volume of Jupiter
Rotation
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The equatorial zones rotate a little faster than the higher
latitudes
Jupiter has differential rotation
 The rotation rate is not constant from one location to
another
A rotation period of 9h 55m is fast for such a large object
Jupiter has the fastest rotation rate of any planet in the
solar system, and this rapid spin has altered Jupiter’s
shape
All spinning objects tend to develop an equatorial bulge
because rotation causes matter to push outward against
the inward-pulling gravity
Atmosphere
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Hydrogen-86.1%
Helium-13.8%
Small amounts of
atmospheric methane,
ammonia, and water
vapor are also found
Jupiter has a banded
appearance of bright
zones and dark belts
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Appear to be the
result of dynamic
motion in the planet’s
atmosphere
Zones-higher
pressure
Belts-lower pressure
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Belts and zones are
Jupiter’s equivalents
of the familiar highand low-pressure
systems that cause
our weather on Earth
Jupiter’s rapid rotation
has caused these
systems to wrap all
the way around the
planet
Jupiter’s Convection
Upwelling warm gas results in the
lighter-colored zones; the darker
bands overlie lower-pressure
regions where cooler gas sinks back
down into the atmosphere. As on
Earth, surface winds tend to blow
from high- to low-pressure regions.
Jupiter’s rotation channels these
winds into an east–west flow
pattern
Zonal Flow
The wind speed in
Jupiter’s atmosphere,
measured relative to the
planet’s internal rotation
rate. Alternations in wind
direction are associated
with the atmospheric
band structure.
Atmosphere
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Jupiter’s clouds are
arranged in three main
layers
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The white regions are the
tops of the upper
ammonia clouds
The yellows, reds, and
browns are associated
with the second cloud
layer, which is composed
of ammonium hydrosulfide
ice
The lowest cloud layer is
water ice and bluish in
color
Core
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Careful calculations indicate that Jupiter would be
more flattened than it actually is if its core were
composed of hydrogen and helium alone
To account for the planet’s observed shape, we
must assume that Jupiter has a dense, compact
core
10 times Earth’s mass
May be a dense, hot liquid with a consistency like
thick soup
The pressure inside may be 30 million times
greater than the pressure at Earth’s surface
Magnetosphere
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Jupiter is surrounded by a vast sea of energetic
charged particles
The radiation is several thousand times more intense
than that produced by Earth’s magnetic field
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The particles are a potentially serious hazard for space
vehicles
Direct spacecraft measurements show Jupiter’s
magnetosphere to be almost 30 million km across,
roughly a million times more voluminous than Earth’s
magnetosphere
The size and shape of Jupiter’s magnetosphere is
determined by the interaction between the planet’s
magnetic field and the solar wind

Jupiter’s magnetosphere has a long tail extending away
from the Sun at least as far as Saturn’s orbit
Moons
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Jupiter has at least 63 known moons
Most of the outer moons are probably
asteroids captured by Jupiter’s gravity
Galilean Moons
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First seen in 1610 by the astronomer Galileo
Galilei
Four largest moons
Named after the mythical attendants of the
Roman god Jupiter
Galilean Moons
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Moving outward from Jupiter, the
four are named Io, Europa,
Ganymede, and Callisto
Range in size from slightly smaller
than Earth’s Moon to slightly larger
than Mercury
Io
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The densest of the Galilean moons
The most geologically active object
in the entire solar system
Has active volcanoes
Europa
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Might be completely covered by an
ocean of liquid water whose top is
frozen at the low temperatures
prevailing so far from the Sun
Ganymede and Callisto
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Ganymede is the largest moon in
the solar system and has its own
magnetic field
Callisto may have icy oceans
beneath the crust
Rings
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Made up of dark
fragments of rock and
dust
Possibly chipped off the
innermost moons by
meteorites
Were unknown before
the two Voyager
spacecraft arrived at
the planet
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There are three parts
to Jupiter's rings
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The innermost,
cloud-like ring is
called the Halo Ring
The next one out is
the Main Ring, which
is quite narrow and
thin
Beyond the Main Ring
is the wispy, nearly
transparent
Gossamer Ring
Galileo
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NASA’s Galileo dropped a probe into the
atmosphere of Jupiter
The probe carried 6 instruments and
survived the crushing pressure and heat
for nearly 1 hour
Collected the first real data about the
chemistry of a gas planet
After the release of the probe, it began a
multi year orbit of Jupiter
Galileo deliberately plunged into Jupiter's
crushing atmosphere on Sept. 21, 2003
Jupiter video
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Quiz to follow
QUIZ
#1

The four largest moons of
Jupiter were first observed by
_____.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Kepler
Galileo
Ptolemy
Copernicus
#2

For Jupiter to make one orbit
around the sun, it takes about
_____ years.
A.
B.
C.
D.
6
9
12
15
#3

What is Jupiter mainly
composed of?
A.
B.
C.
D.
helium
oxygen
nitrogen
hydrogen
#4
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Jupiters Great Red Spot is a
giant crater.


true
false
#5

Jupiters atmosphere contains
_____.
A.
B.
C.
D.
radon
chlorine
methane
ammonia
#6

The Io torus, a doughnut of
electrically charged particles
around Jupiter, is produced by
the action of Jupiter’s _____
on the moon, Io.
A.
B.
C.
D.
magnetic field
gamma radiation
gravitational field
atmospheric gases
#7

Io’s surface has no craters
because of continual _____.
A.
B.
C.
D.
wind erosion
volcanic activity
tectonic shifting
water condensation
#8

Which is Jupiter’s biggest
moon?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Io
Europa
Callisto
Ganymede
#9

Scientists think that Europas
crust is mostly made of _____.
A.
B.
C.
D.
ice
lava
sulfur
carbon
# 10

The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter is
expected to visit three of
Jupiters moons and to look for
signs of oceans.


true
false
Answers
#1

The four largest moons of
Jupiter were first observed by
_____.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Kepler
Galileo
Ptolemy
Copernicus
#2

For Jupiter to make one orbit
around the sun, it takes about
_____ years.
A.
B.
C.
D.
6
9
12
15
#3

What is Jupiter mainly
composed of?
A.
B.
C.
D.
helium
oxygen
nitrogen
hydrogen
#4

Jupiters Great Red Spot is a
giant crater.


true
false
#5

Jupiters atmosphere contains
_____.
A.
B.
C.
D.
radon
chlorine
methane
ammonia
#6

The Io torus, a doughnut of
electrically charged particles
around Jupiter, is produced by
the action of Jupiter’s _____
on the moon, Io.
A.
B.
C.
D.
magnetic field
gamma radiation
gravitational field
atmospheric gases
#7

Io’s surface has no craters
because of continual _____.
A.
B.
C.
D.
wind erosion
volcanic activity
tectonic shifting
water condensation
#8

Which is Jupiter’s biggest
moon?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Io
Europa
Callisto
Ganymede
#9

Scientists think that Europas
crust is mostly made of _____.
A.
B.
C.
D.
ice
lava
sulfur
carbon
# 10

The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter is
expected to visit three of
Jupiters moons and to look for
signs of oceans.


true
false