The largest planet in the solar system. Number of planets in the solar system

Our solar system is one of the components of the galaxy. Here the Milky Way stretches for hundreds of thousands of light years.

The central element of the solar system is the sun. Eight planets revolve around it (the ninth planet, Pluto, was excluded from this list, since its mass and gravitational forces do not allow it to be on a par with other planets). However, each planet is not like the next. Among them there are both small and truly huge, icy and red-hot, consisting of gas and dense.

The largest planet in the Universe is TrES-4. It was discovered in 2006 and is located in the constellation Hercules. A planet called TrES-4 orbits a star that is about 1,400 light-years away from planet Earth.


The planet TrES-4 itself is a ball that consists mainly of hydrogen. Its size is 20 times the size of the Earth. The researchers claim that the diameter of the discovered planet is almost 2 times (more precisely, 1.7) the diameter of Jupiter (it is the largest planet in the solar system). The temperature of TrES-4 is about 1260 degrees Celsius.

According to scientists, there is no solid surface on the planet. Therefore, you can only dive into it. It is a mystery how the density of the substance of which this celestial body is composed is so low.

Jupiter

The largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter, is located at a distance of 778 million kilometers from the Sun. This planet, the fifth in a row, is a gas giant. The composition is very similar to the sun. At least its atmosphere is predominantly hydrogen.



However, under the atmosphere, the surface of Jupiter is covered with an ocean. Only it does not consist of water, but boiling hydrogen rarefied under high pressure. Jupiter is spinning very fast, so fast that it is elongating along its equator. Therefore, unusually strong winds are formed there. The appearance of the planet because of this feature is interesting: in its atmosphere, clouds elongate and form diverse and colorful ribbons. Whirlwinds appear in the clouds - atmospheric formations. The largest are over 300 years old. Among them is the Great Red Spot, which is many times the size of the Earth.

Elder Brother of the Earth


It is worth noting that the planet's magnetic field is huge, it occupies 650 million kilometers. This is much larger than Jupiter itself. The field partially extends even beyond the orbit of the planet Saturn. Jupiter currently has 28 moons. At least that much is open. Looking at the sky from Earth, the farthest one looks smaller than the Moon. But the largest satellite is Ganymede. However, astronomers are especially interested in Europe. It has a surface in the form of ice, moreover, it is covered with stripes-cracks. Their origin still causes a lot of controversy. Some researchers believe that under the balls of ice, where the water does not freeze, there may be primitive life. Far few places in the solar system are honored with such an assumption. Scientists plan to send drilling rigs to this satellite of Jupiter in the future. This is necessary just to study the composition of water.

Jupiter and its moons through a telescope


According to the modern version, the Sun and the planets formed from the same gas and dust cloud. Here, Jupiter accounted for 2/3 of the entire mass of the planets of the solar system. And this is clearly not enough for thermonuclear reactions to take place in the center of the planet. Jupiter has its own source of heat, which is associated with the energy from the compression and decay of matter. If the heating was only from the Sun, then the upper layer would have a temperature of about 100K. And judging by the measurements - it is equal to 140K.

It is worth noting that the atmosphere of Jupiter is 11% helium, and 89% hydrogen. This ratio makes it similar to the chemical composition of the Sun. The orange color is due to the compounds of sulfur and phosphorus. For people, they are detrimental, as there is acetylene and poisonous ammonia.

Saturn

It is the next largest planet in the solar system. Through a telescope, you can clearly see that Saturn is more flattened than Jupiter. There are bands on the surface parallel to the equator, but they are less distinct than those of the previous planet. Numerous and dim details are visible in the stripes. And it was from them that the scientist William Herschel was able to determine the period of rotation of the planet. It's only 10 hours and 16 minutes. Saturn's equatorial diameter is slightly smaller than Jupiter. However, in terms of mass, it is three times inferior to the largest planet. In addition, Saturn has a low average density - 0.7 grams per square centimeter. This is because the giant planets are made up of helium and hydrogen. In the bowels of Saturn, the pressure is not the same as on Jupiter. The surface temperature is close to the temperature at which methane melts.



Saturn has elongated dark bands or belts along the equator, as well as bright zones. These details are not as contrasting as those of Jupiter. And individual spots are not so frequent. Saturn has rings. The telescope shows "ears" on both sides of the disk. It has been established that the rings of the planet are the remains of a huge circumplanetary cloud that stretches for millions of kilometers. Stars are visible through the rings that revolve around the planet. The inner parts rotate faster than the outer ones.

Saturn through a telescope


Saturn has 22 moons. They have the names of ancient heroes, for example, Mimas, Enceladus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Tethys, Dione, Prometheus. The most interesting of them: Janus - he is the closest to the planet, Titan - the largest (the largest satellite in the solar system in terms of mass and size).

Movie about Saturn


All satellites of the planet, with the exception of Phoebe, turn in the forward direction. But Phoebe is moving in orbit in the opposite direction.

Uranus

The seventh planet from the Sun in the solar system, therefore, is poorly lit. It is four times the diameter of the Earth. Some details on Uranus are difficult to distinguish due to the small angular dimensions. Uranus rotates around its axis, lying on its side. Uranus orbits the Sun in 84 years.



The polar day at the poles lasts 42 years, then the night of the same duration begins. The composition of the planet is a small amount of methane and hydrogen. According to indirect signs, there is helium. The density of the planet is greater than that of Jupiter and Saturn.

Traveling the planets: Uranus and Neptune


Uranus has planetary narrow rings. They consist of separate opaque and dark particles. The radius of the orbits is 40-50 thousand kilometers, the width is from 1 to 10 kilometers. The planet has 15 satellites. Some of them are external, some are internal. The most distant and largest are Titania and Oberon. Their diameter is about 1.5 thousand kilometers. The surfaces are pitted with meteorite craters.
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A planet is a space object that revolves around the Sun and forms the solar system with the rest of the planets. The term "planet" comes from the Greek word for "wanderer". Before the invention of telescopes, planets, like stars, were viewed as objects moving across the sky. Technological advances have helped scientists greatly increase their knowledge of the planets, thanks to spacecraft as well as improved observations from Earth. Our solar system contains eight known planets, although there were originally nine when Pluto was discovered in the 1930s. However, in 2006, astronomers adopted an official definition of the term "planet", which Pluto did not match and was downgraded to the status of a dwarf planet.

The largest planets in the solar system:

Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest of all eight planets orbiting the sun. Its radius is 69,911 km. Jupiter is so gigantic that the other seven planets can fit in it. This is the fifth planet from the Sun, named after the king of the Roman gods. The atmosphere of the planet consists of gases, mainly hydrogen and helium. The surface of Jupiter is an ocean of liquid hydrogen.

Jupiter has white, yellow, thick red and brown clouds. These clouds move at high speeds in the opposite direction as the planet rotates on its axis. The famous vortex - the Great Red Spot, moves parallel to the plane of the planet's equator at high speed, and exceeds the size of the Earth.

Jupiter has the strongest magnetosphere of any planet, nearly 20,000 times larger than Earth's. The planet rotates around its axis in just 10 hours. Jupiter has three faint rings made up of dust particles, which are the remnants of comets and asteroids. The planet completely completes its orbit around the Sun once every 11.86 Earth years.

Saturn

The planet Saturn has a radius of 58,282 (excluding rings) km and ranks second in size among the planets of the solar system. It is the sixth planet and is easily visible to the naked eye from Earth. The discovery of Saturn is not credited to any individual. It was named after the ancient Roman god Saturn. The planet rotates around its axis in 10 hours and 34 minutes, and around the Sun in 29.4 Earth years. Saturn's atmosphere has three layers: the first layer consists mainly of ammonia ice, the second includes water ice, and a mixture of hydrogen and sulfur makes up most of the third layer.

Saturn is predominantly made up of hydrogen. It has thin and wide rings formed from ice particles and small particles of carbonaceous dust. It is believed that these particles are the remains of asteroids, satellites and comets, destroyed near Saturn. The planet is 1,424,600,000 km from the Sun. Saturn has 62 known moons and is the most oblate planet in the solar system, mainly due to its low density and fast rotation rate.

Uranus

The discovery of the existence of the planet Uranus is attributed to the British astronomer William Herschel. It was an unprecedented discovery made on March 13, 1781. Uranus is in the seventh position relative to the distance from the Sun, preceding Neptune, and is also third in size with an average radius of 25,362 km. The name of the planet comes from the name of the ancient Greek deity of the sky - Ouranos. It takes Uranus 17 hours and 14 minutes to complete an orbit around its axis, and about 84 Earth years to complete an orbit around the Sun. Uranus and Venus are the only planets of the eight known to move clockwise around the Sun. 80% of the planet is made up of ice. Uranus has a pale blue color due to the presence of water, ammonia and methane ice in its outer atmosphere. Under the upper atmosphere there is a layer of hydrogen and helium. The planet contains a core of iron and magnesium silicate.

Neptune

Of all the known planets, Neptune is the most distant from the Sun. It was discovered on September 23, 1846 by Johann Gall. The discovery was facilitated by preliminary information from French astronomer Urban Le Verrier and another independent British astronomer, John Cooch Adams. Neptune makes a complete revolution around the Sun every 164.79 Earth years, has 14 satellites and five faint rings.

Neptune is a gas planet composed primarily of hydrogen, helium and methane. Methane in the atmosphere absorbs red light in significant amounts, so Neptune is blue. The name of the planet comes from Roman mythology, where Neptune was the god of the seas. The core is mostly rock. A massive storm called the Great Dark Spot is raging on the planet. The climate on Neptune is very active with violent storms and winds swirling around the planet at high speeds. Only one spacecraft, called Voyager 2, approached Neptune in 1989.

Other planets and Pluto

Others in size are in this order: Earth with a radius of 6,371 km, Venus with a radius of 6,052 km, Mars with a radius of 3,390 km, and Mercury with a radius of 2,440 km. It is noteworthy that Pluto, which has recently ceased to be considered the ninth planet, is not on the list. The new definition of the term "planet" adopted by astronomers in 2006 led to the reclassification of Pluto in the group of dwarf planets.

Table ranking the sizes of the planets in the solar system in decreasing order

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My sister was lucky - for her birthday she was presented with a real telescope. Of course, it does not increase too much, but is it really that important? I myself for about forty minutes, not looking up, looked at the starry sky. And I even recognized one of the small round spots, which, in fact, is the largest planet in the solar system.

What is the largest planet in the solar system

The largest planet is Jupiter. It is more than 11 times larger than our Earth.


Jupiter also has many more moons than our planet. You and I can only boast of having one single moon.

Jupiter but at the moment they counted already 69 satellites- more than any other planet in the solar system. Of course, I won't list them all. But I will name the most famous ones:

  • Callisto.
  • Ganymede.
  • Europe.

This magnificent four of Jupiter's satellites Galileo discovered, and made it whole 407 years ago.


Why is it difficult to fly to Jupiter

The first reason is that it is located enough far from earth. Distance varies from 588.5 to 968.6 million km. Why such a large spread? The fact is that the planets, revolving around the Sun, cyclically either approach or move away from each other. So in order to fly faster, you need to guess the moment when the planets will be successfully located one relative to the other.


The second problem is landing. Space probes that are sent to explore this space behemoth, can not fine sit on its gas surface. They just need to immerse themselves in the atmosphere - and huge pressure the planet flattens the probe into a cake.

Yes and radiation around Jupiter also strongly interferes with the operation of spacecraft, often leading to severe failures or even large losses of collected data.


However, despite such enormous difficulties, Jupiter and its moons are carefully studied. Some of moons gas giant attract special attention - there, presumably, there is an ocean, which means it could life is born. It is unlikely that it will be intelligent, but even the very fact of its discovery will let humanity know that we are not alone in space.

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When I was little, I stubbornly believed that the largest planet in the solar system was a large red-yellow ball in its center. Only later, when I entered school, did the teachers explain to me that this "planet" is the main star of our system - the Sun. Such news made me look further for the largest planet in the solar system.


The planet is a giant

If put planets in ascending order of mass, then the list will look like this:

  • Mercury - 3.3 10 ^ 20 kilograms;
  • Mars - 6.4 10 ^ 20 kilograms;
  • Venus - 4.9 10 ^ 21 kilograms;
  • Earth-6.0 10^21 kilograms;
  • Uranium - 8.7 10 ^ 22 kilograms;
  • Neptune - 1.0 10 ^ 23 kilograms;
  • Saturn - 5.7 10 ^ 23 kilograms;
  • Jupiter - 1.9 10^24 kilograms.

As seen , Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system.The diameter of this planet in the thickest part, at the equator, 11 thousand times larger than the diameter of the Earth. Of course, this size is much smaller than the diameter of the Sun, about 10 Jupiter diameters would be equal to the Sun's diameter. In proportion to the size and mass of Jupiter is very large. If you put on the scales (of course, "cosmically" huge) all the planets of the solar system and their satellites and compare their weight with the weight of Jupiter, then Jupiter will easily outweigh all this. Only if make the weight of the planets and their satellites 2.5 times heavier, the scales will balance.


Cause of Jupiter's Huge Size

This planet was formed in the early period of the development of the solar system, like Saturn, during this period more materials (gases) were free to create planets, therefore the size of the planets of that period is simply huge. High temperature + a lot of gas made the planet Jupiter so big. The rest of the planets have much less gas left, so they look unattractive. Also about gases, Jupiter's atmosphere is very dense, so it's difficult to give an accurate estimate of its size. All that humanity can observe now is the clouds of Jupiter and nothing more.


someone bigger

In our solar system, Jupiter is definitely a giant, but there are other systems where gas giants are closer to the star than Jupiter is to the Sun, so the temperature of these giants is higher, which means that the size exceeds the size of Jupiter. FROMThe largest planet known to mankind is TRES-4.


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A couple of years ago, my son returned from school with the question: “How many planets are there in the solar system?”. Recently it turned out that Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Like, it's too small. Needless to say, this controversy continues to this day. Fortunately, there is no doubt about the largest planet in the solar system.


The largest planet in the solar system

Jupiter is often referred to as a gas giant. It is the fifth planet in order from the Sun. Its diameter is about 143 thousand kilometers. In this way Jupiter is almost 11 times the size of Earth. Jupiter is so large that its mass is two and a half times the combined mass of all the other planets in our galaxy. It is one of the few planets that can be viewed without a telescope. That is why people in ancient times knew about the existence of this giant space object, just like about the Sun, Moon and Venus. By pointing a small telescope towards Jupiter, we will see an impenetrable layer of clouds 4 thousand kilometers thick and among them a characteristic feature - a large red spot. First time I saw him in 1665 French astronomer Giovanni Cassini. Its size is comparable to the diameter of the planet Earth. The active movement of gases in the atmosphere of Jupiter occurs under the influence of winds, the speed of which reaches 600 kilometers per hour.


Diamond in the center of Jupiter

Scientists believe that under a thick layer of fast-moving clouds, at a depth of about 40 thousand kilometers, is in a stationary state the core of the planet. Nothing is known about its chemical and physical parameters. There is a hypothesis that under enormous pressure and temperature, the core could have formed either in the form of petrified hydrogen with the properties of a metal, or in the form of coal with all the properties of a diamond. Can anyone imagine a diamond is three times the size of the earth?

Rings and moons of Jupiter

Jupiter has rings like that of Saturn. Despite the fact that the total width of the rings is about 6 thousand kilometers, few people know about them. In addition to all of the above, expressively answers the question of which planet is the largest in the solar system, the fact that Jupiter has 67 moons. The largest of them are:

  • Europe;
  • Ganymede;
  • Callisto.

Solar System Vacuum Cleaner

The presence of a large number of satellites is due to the fact that Jupiter creates very strong attraction field. Therefore, this planetary ball can be called a vacuum cleaner of the solar system. Numerous asteroids and comets are sucked into Jupiter's atmosphere. Thus, these space objects no longer pose a threat to planet Earth and humanity.

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The giant of the solar system

Everyone knows that largest planet - Jupiter. Due to the fact that it is possible to observe it almost all night, the planet has been known since ancient times. "Mulu Babbar"- that is what the representatives of the ancient culture of Mesopotamia called it, which means "star-sun". A significant breakthrough in the study of this planet occurred only by the middle of the 17th century.. He became first celestial body to have moons, but this discovery was made by the great Galileo. This is truly a giant among the planets, but is it a planet?


planet or star

Some of the scientists of the beginning of the last century believed that the giant radiates own light, and some of its characteristics like the sun:

  • consists of hydrogen;
  • emits x-rays;
  • emits radio waves;
  • has a huge magnetic field.

Observational astronomers immediately noticed that all of the above characterizes the stars but not planets. Therefore, the question arose: maybe this is not a planet, but a star? Jupiter found a small nuclear energy emitter, but science says otherwise: the planet should not have anything like this. Indeed, the planets reflect rays and energy, while the stars themselves generate both. And what is most interesting is that the outgoing energy significantly exceeds that which it transmits to the planet Sun.


Another important point is the huge energy generation rate, which indicates that, in fact, the planet "warming up". Observations made it possible to establish that due to the gigantic mass, the planet absorbs particles "solar wind". With an increase in the number of captured particles, the mass of the planet itself increases, which is one of the main conditions for turning into a star.


Scientists estimate that after about 2 billion years Jupiter will overtake the Sun in mass, which will cause binary solar system.

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In April of this year, I observed in the starry sky one very bright object, lighting in my city is practically absent at night, so I was able to see well largest an object in the solar system after the luminary itself - Jupiter. And it is not at all surprising that it was so clearly visible to the naked eye, because this the planet is superior our weight earth a little more than 300 once. Accordingly, when she is at the point of opposition, the light she reflects outshines even Sirius.


The largest planet in the solar system - Jupiter and its origin

Jupiter located at a sufficient distance from the Sun so that it would be difficult for mankind to study it, and the atmosphere there is unfriendly, after all gas giant, somehow. Ammonia showers hardly contribute to a comfortable immersion in the environment of any terrestrial device, especially since there is also no solid surface. No, it is quite possible that somewhere very deep there is nucleus, but hydrocarbon life does not exist there. planet formed due to large-scale phenomena, a series of chemical reactions and, probably, gravitational collapse, which marked the beginning of our system. Structurally Jupiter comprises:

  1. multi-layered atmosphere.
  2. metallic hydrogen.
  3. Core, presumably stone.

Of course, it is not possible to obtain accurate data due to the characteristics of the celestial body, but space devices sent directly closeness, made it possible to record more or less specific information at least about outer atmosphere.


Jupiter makes a revolution around his axes just for 10 earth hours, which makes it in this regard not only the most massive, but also fast planet of the solar system. However, the orbit is so large that one revolution around the sun lasts 12 years. Because of its size, Jupiter has an extremely powerful gravity, so approaching comet at a distance of 15 thousand kilometers was torn apart into many pieces. Plus, the planet has record number of satellites- about 70 objects.

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Who is the largest in the solar system

The largest planet in the solar system is gas giant -Jupiter. Jupiter known to ancient people as supreme deity of ancient Rome. Interestingly, the wife of God was Juno. Namely, this is the name of the spacecraft that was sent to explore the planet. What strikes us this gas giant:

  • To fill all Jupiter volume, need 1300 planets Earth.
  • If stocks hydrogen and helium was in 80 times more,Jupiter would become a star.
  • Jupiter has small copy of the solar system- 4 months and 67 small satellites.

And also, as it turned out, Jupiter shrinks by 2cm every year. Scientists have found that after his "birth" giant was much bigger and hotter. And it was formed much earlier than Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. These four were formed from substances that throwing gas planets into space.

Mystery of the planet - the great red spot

Jupiter It has amazing coloring. And all thanks winds that blow up 650 kilometers per hour. And here from the sky in the form of rain fall diamonds. In addition to this wealth, on Jupiter constantly rages Hurricane, whose diameter is 3 times the size of the Earth. From space it looks like giant red spot. It either increases or decreases, and color still remains a mystery to scientists.


Powerful giant magnetic field

A magnetic field this "god of the planets" more than 20,000 times Earth's. The electrically charged particles of this field are constantly at war with other planets, constantly attacking them. BUT Jupiter radiation can inflict damage even good protected spacecraft. Jupiter also has three rings, although they are not as bright as those of Saturn.


And also Jupiter like a real supreme god, protects planets from comets and asteroids. Its gravitational field affects asteroids and changes their orbits. Because of this, we are still alive today.

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> The largest planet in the solar system

The largest planet in solar system- Jupiter. Read the description, interesting facts and scientific research for the most massive planet around the Sun with a photo.

The largest planet in the solar system is of course Jupiter. It is not only the largest, but also the most massive planet revolving around the Sun.

Jupiter fascinated observers 400 years ago, when it was possible to see it in the first telescopes. This is a beautiful gas giant with swirling clouds, a mysterious spot, a family of satellites and many features.

Most impressive is the scale. In terms of mass, volume and area, the planet is the largest planet in the solar system. The ancients knew about its existence, so Jupiter was noted in many cultures. Below is a comparison of the sizes of Jupiter, the Earth and the Moon.

The size, mass and volume of the largest planet in the solar system

Mass - 1.8981 x 10 27 kg, volume - 1.43128 x 10 15 km 3, surface area - 6.1419 x 10 10 km 2, and the average circumference reaches 4.39264 x 10 5 km. For you to understand, the diameter of the planet is 11 times larger than the Earth and 2.5 times more massive than all the solar planets.

Jupiter is a gas giant, so its density is 1.326 g / cm 3 (less than ¼ of the earth). The low density is a hint to researchers that the object is represented by gases, but disputes are still ongoing about the composition of the core of the largest planet.

Composition of the largest planet in the solar system

This is the largest of the gas giants, divided into an outer atmospheric layer and an inner space. The atmosphere is filled with hydrogen (88-92%) and helium (8-12%). The chemical composition of Jupiter's atmosphere is shown in the figure.

There are also traces of methane, water vapor, silicon, ammonia and benzene. In small quantities, hydrogen sulfide, carbon, neon, ethane, oxygen, sulfur and phosphine can be found.

The interior of Jupiter contains dense materials, therefore it consists of hydrogen (71%), helium (24%) and other elements (5%). The core is a dense mixture of liquid metallic hydrogen with helium and an outer layer of molecular hydrogen. It is believed that the core may be rocky, but there is no exact data.

The presence of a nucleus was raised in 1997, when they dealt with gravity. Information hinted that it could reach 12-45 Earth masses and cover 4-14% of the mass of Jupiter. The presence of a core is also reinforced by planetary models that say the planets needed a rocky or icy core. But convection currents, as well as hot liquid hydrogen, could reduce the parameters of the core.

The closer to the core, the higher the temperature and pressure. It is believed that on the surface we will note 67°C and 10 bar, in the phase transition - 9700°C and 200 GPa, and near the core - 35700°C and 3000-4500 GPa.

Satellites of the largest planet in the solar system

We now know that there is a family of 67 moons near the planet Jupiter. Four of them are the largest and are called Galilean because they were discovered by Galileo Galilei: Io (solid active volcanoes), Europa (massive subsurface ocean), Ganymede (largest satellite in the system) and Callisto (underground ocean and old surface materials).

There is also the Amalthea group, where there are 4 satellites with a diameter of less than 200 km. They are 200,000 km away and have an orbital inclination of 0.5 degrees. These are Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea and Thebe.

There is also a whole bunch of irregular moons that are smaller and have more eccentric orbital routes. They are divided into families that converge in size, composition, and orbit.

Interesting facts about the largest planet in the solar system

Let's find out more interesting facts about Jupiter. Near the north and south poles of the largest planet in the solar system, auroras are observed. But here they are much more intense and practically do not stop. This is influenced by a powerful magnetic field and incoming material from Io's volcanoes.

There is a dense atmosphere where the wind speeds up to 620 km/h. In just a few hours, powerful storms form. The most popular is the Great Red Spot, observed since the 1600s.

With the discovery of exoplanets, we realized that planets are capable of surpassing our gas giant in size. Kepler has already managed to find more than 300 super-Jupiters. Among the examples, it is worth recalling PSR B1620-26 b, which is considered the oldest planet (12.7 billion years). In addition, there is HD 80606 b with the most eccentric orbit.

Interestingly, in theory there are planets that are 15 times larger than Jupiter. When deuterium is fused, they become brown dwarfs. Jupiter received the name from the Romans in honor of the supreme deity.

The planet Jupiter was first seen 400 years ago. Then only the first telescopes appeared, and through them it was possible to see this planet. The planet Jupiter conquers with its volume, scale. It is the largest planet in the solar system in terms of volume, mass, and area.

By the way, there are planets that are 15 times larger than Jupiter, but this is only in theory. The planet was named Jupiter by the Romans, in honor of the supreme deity.

The largest planet in the solar system: interesting facts about Jupiter

It is one of the largest gas giants. Divided into the inner space, and the atmospheric layer. The air is filled with 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. The planet also has methane, silicon and ammonia. Small amounts of carbon, oxygen, neon, phosphine are present.

The interior of the planet houses dense materials. A mixture of liquid hydrogen with helium and an outer layer of molecular hydrogen is called the core. It's not clear yet, but some believe the core could be rocky.

Even 20 years ago, the question of the core was raised. It was assumed that it can reach from 12 to 45 Earth masses and cover from 4 to 14% of the mass of Jupiter. The closer you are to the core, the higher the temperature and pressure become. Near the core, the temperature reaches 35700 degrees and about 4000 GPa, on the very surface it is 67 degrees and 10 BAR.

Near Jupiter there is a family of 67 moons. Galileo Galilei discovered 4 of the largest in the distant past. It:

  • Io (active volcanoes);
  • Europa (subsurface ocean);
  • Ganymede (largest moon);
  • Callisto (underground ocean).

Auroras are observed near the north and south poles.

The largest planet in the solar system: top 8 planets

  • Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system. But it is closest to the Sun. There is no season change on this planet, because the axis of rotation is perpendicular to the rotation of the Sun. It is somewhat similar to the moon, the surface is rocky, covered with craters, such as on the moon. Like the Moon, Mercury has no atmosphere. This planet occupies the 8th place;
  • Mars - Unlike Mercury, Mars is in 4th place from the Sun. She is also rocky like Mercury. This planet has been visited many times by terrestrial spacecraft. By the way, Mars rovers are working there now. The average temperature on Mars is -153 degrees. This planet occupies the 7th place;
  • Venus - she is also called the "sister of the Earth." It is closer to the Sun than the Earth, but this is not very important. The average temperature is +470 degrees. Carbon dioxide is used instead of oxygen. This planet occupies the 6th place;
  • The Earth is in 3rd place from the Sun. The only planet where life boils. 70% of the planet is covered with water. This planet occupies the 5th place;
  • Neptune is the most distant of all the largest planets. Neptune is 17 times heavier than Earth and has a larger diameter. In 1846, astronomers calculated this planet, and then looked at it through a telescope. This planet occupies the 4th place;
  • Uranus is the 3rd planet of all the big ones. The average temperature is -220 degrees. It is named after an ancient Greek god, not a Roman god like most others. It has 27 satellites in its orbit. This planet occupies the 3rd place;
  • Saturn - this planet is also one of the largest. Saturn has the largest number of satellites, about 62. This planet occupies 2nd place;
  • Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Gas giant. The average temperature is about -140 degrees. Jupiter has many moons that can be seen with any binoculars, the most popular being Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto.