:: Jupiter ::

Jupiter is the 4th planet from the Sun. It is named after the supreme god in Roman mythology. He was the god of the sky, heavens and law.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system by a long way. If you were to combine all of the other planets in our solar system together Jupiter would still be over two and a half times bigger!

Jupiter is mainly composed of Hydogen and Helium, the same as the Sun. In fact, if Jupiter had formed 80 times bigger that what it is now it would have become a star rather than a planet.

Jupiter has 4 main moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Collectively these 4 moons are called the Galilean satellites after the astronomer, Galileo Galilei who first discovered them in the year 1610.

At last count Jupiter has a total of 62 moons although only 49 have been officially named so far.

1. Io
2. Europa
3. Ganymede
4. Callisto
5. Amalthea
6. Himalia
7. Elara
8. Pasiphae
9. Sinope
10. Lysithea
11. Carme
12. Ananke
13. Leda
14. Thebe
15. Adrastea
16. Metis
17. Callirrhoe
18. Themisto
19. Megaclite
20. Taygete
21. Chaldene
22. Harpalyke
23. Kalyke
24. Iocaste
25. Erinome
26. Isonoe
27. Praxidike
28. Autonoe
29. Thyone
30. Hermippe
31. Aitne
32. Eurydome
33. Euanthe
34. Euporie
35. Orthosie
36. Sponde
37. Kale
38. Pasithee
39. Hegemone
40. Mneme
41. Aoede
42. Thelxinoe
43. Arche
44. Kallichore
45. Helike
46. Carpo
47. Eukelade
48. Cyllene
49. Kore
50. S/2003 J2
51. S/2003 J3
52. S/2003 J4
53. S/2003 J5
54. S/2003 J9
55. S/2003 J10
56. S/2003 J12
57. S/2003 J15
58. S/2003 J16
59. S/2003 J17
60. S/2003 J18
61. S/2003 J19
62. S/2003 J23

Images of Jupiter from Voyager 1

A picture of Jupiter's great red spot taken by Voyager 1. Click to view an animated image of the planet Jupiter's rotation Voyager 1 picture of Jupiter and its largest moon Ganymede
A series of picture taken by Voyager 1 put together to make a short video showing the movement of the atmosphere.
Click on the image to see the animated version. It could take a minute to load on your computer.
Voyager 1 picture of Jupiter and its largest moon Ganymede

Images of Jupiter from the New Horizons space craft that is on its way to Pluto.

A picture taken by New Horizons of Jupiter and its moon Io.
Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins U. APL, SWRI
Excellent image of Jupiter's moon Io taken by New Horizons.
Credit: (NASA, JHU/APL, SwRI - Additional Processing: Sean Walker)
Amazing animation of the Io volcano Tvashtar erupting.
Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI
In February 2007, New Horizons passed Jupiter and one of its moons Io. As it passed, these amazing pictures were taken. The picture of Io was taken separately and digitally impossed over Jupiter. On Io you can clearly see a plume coming from the volcano Tvashtar. Click on this image to see an amazing animation of the Io volcano Tvashtar erupting. You can see lava spraying 330 kilometers up and then falling back down again to the Ionian surface. The animation is made up of five images taken over a period of eight minutes beginning at 23:50 UT on March 1, 2007.

:: Facts ::

Jupiter is the 5th planet from the Sun.

Jupiter was named after the King of the Roman gods.

Diameter: 142,984 km, 11 times the diameter of the Earth

You could fit 1300 earth's within Jupiter

Mass: Jupiter's mass is 318 times greater than the Earth's

Day Length: 10 Earth hours

Year Length: 11 Years, 315 Days, 1.1 Hours

Average Distance from Sun: 483.6 million miles

Temperatures vary from -163°C to greater than -121°C.

Atmosphere: Jupiter's atmoshere is mostly made up of Hydrogen, Helium.

Jupiter has 4 large moons, Io, Europa, Ganyede and Callisto. It also has another 56 minor moons which are usually no more than 4km across.


:: Information on the Planets ::
Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune