Jupiter is considered the most outstanding planet in the Universe, and interesting facts about the planet Jupiter are known even to inquisitive schoolchildren. Let's try to summarize the information.

1. The fifth planet in the solar system has an unusual atmosphere. Its main constituent element is hydrogen. Moreover, its concentration varies from the surface to the center: both liquid and gaseous hydrogen are present in the atmosphere, and the very core of the "inhabitant" of the universe consists of metal, rocky and hydrogen components. Also on Jupiter in small concentrations, gases such as helium, methane, ammonia and acetylene are found.
2. The gas giant is 10 times the diameter of the Earth's surface.. In this area, you can collect 1300 globes.

   

3. The mass of Jupiter is 2.47 times greater than the total mass of all the planets. This fact allows astronomers to compare the giant with a star. But the Sun, the only star in our universe, is 1,000 times heavier.

   

4. Although the Sun is able to heat the "cold" planet only to -170 degrees Celsius, temperatures up to -140 degrees Celsius are recorded in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter. This suggests that there are sources of heat on the planet.

   

5. Jupiter unlikely to show signs of life. At least on the giant there is no water and solid surfaces, in the thickness of which and along which the movement of living beings is possible.

   

6. Despite its large size, Jupiter easily completes a circle around its axis in 10 hours.. Considerable remoteness from the Sun and a long trajectory of movement does not prevent it from "flying around" the circle in just 12 Earth years.

   

7. Jupiter is easy to spot in the sky with a telescope. It is the third brightest, after Venus and the Sun.

   

8. Jupiter is known as the planet around which an unprecedented magnetic field has been created.. The strength of its impact exceeds the earth's by 14 times. It is said that with the help of the core of the system it is possible to recreate electricity. Well, the fate of the devices that fell under the influence of magnetic forces is a foregone conclusion - breakdown, exit from operation.

   

9. Jupiter has the largest number of moons - 64. The oldest of them, discovered by astrology lovers a long time ago, is Calisto. All "brothers" and "sisters" move in the opposite direction with respect to the movement of the gas system.

   

10. Seas have been discovered on the Earth's satellite. Water, according to scientists, is also present in the moons of Jupiter. Europa is covered with ice caps, under the thickness of which the ocean is hidden.

    

11. A planet called Io, which is a satellite of Jupiter, recorded volcanic activity. This is so far the only place in the universe where flashes of lava flow are observed, as on Earth.

    

12. 350 years ago (J. Cassini, 1665) a large red spot with dimensions of 12 * 48 thousand km was discovered on the planet. Since its discovery, the spot has not changed location, but has decreased in size. Astronomers have come to the conclusion that a hurricane in the atmosphere is “hiding” under it, which is in constant rotation. The speed of movement in these coordinates is 300 km/h.

    

13. Jupiter registers unprecedented seismic activity. Storms, hurricanes, lightning are not uncommon here. The wind speed here reaches 500 km/h. If a storm begins, then it does not last more than 4 days. As for hurricanes, they are accompanied by thunderstorms.

    

14. Four rings of Jupiter are of interest to astronomy lovers. One of them was formed after the collision of meteorites with satellites. Another ring, located closer to the "body" of the gas system, was opened recently. Its name is Halo.

    

15. The gravitational influence of the giant planet breaks the nucleus of comets approaching Jupiter at great speed. This phenomenon is accompanied by aurora, black spots, climate change. In July 1992, the comet broke up into 7 large parts. Such a swarm of comets was seen at Mount Palomar Observatory. Grandiose cosmic cataclysms can also be observed through the Hubble telescope.

    

Planet characteristics:

• Distance from the Sun: ~ 778.3 million km
• Planet Diameter: 143,000 km*
• Days on the planet: 9h 50min 30s**
• Year on the planet: 11.86 years old***
• t° on the surface: -150°C
• Atmosphere: 82% hydrogen; 18% helium and minor traces of other elements
• Satellites: 16

* diameter at the equator of the planet
** period of rotation around its own axis (in Earth days)
*** orbital period around the Sun (in Earth days)

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. It is located at a distance of 5.2 astronomical years from the Sun, which is approximately 775 million km. The planets of the solar system are divided by astronomers into two conditional groups: terrestrial planets and gas giants. Jupiter is the largest of the gas giants.

Presentation: planet Jupiter

The dimensions of Jupiter exceed the dimensions of the Earth by 318 times, and if it were even larger by about 60 times, it would have every chance of becoming a star due to a spontaneous thermonuclear reaction. The planet's atmosphere is about 85% hydrogen. The remaining 15% is mainly helium with impurities of ammonia and sulfur and phosphorus compounds. Jupiter also contains methane in its atmosphere.

With the help of spectral analysis, it was found that there is no oxygen on the planet, therefore, there is no water - the basis of life. According to another hypothesis, there is still ice in the atmosphere of Jupiter. Perhaps no planet in our system causes so much controversy in the scientific world. Especially many hypotheses are connected with the internal structure of Jupiter. Recent studies of the planet with the help of spacecraft have made it possible to create a model that makes it possible to judge its structure with a high degree of certainty.

Internal structure

The planet is a spheroid, quite strongly compressed from the poles. It has a strong magnetic field that extends millions of kilometers into orbit. The atmosphere is an alternation of layers with different physical properties. Scientists suggest that Jupiter has a solid core 1-1.5 times the diameter of the Earth, but much denser. Its existence has not yet been proven, but it has not been refuted either.

atmosphere and surface

The upper layer of Jupiter's atmosphere consists of a mixture of hydrogen and helium gases and has a thickness of 8 - 20 thousand km. In the next layer, the thickness of which is 50 - 60 thousand km, due to the increase in pressure, the gas mixture passes into a liquid state. In this layer, the temperature can reach 20,000 C. Even lower (at a depth of 60 - 65 thousand km.) Hydrogen passes into a metallic state. This process is accompanied by an increase in temperature to 200,000 C. At the same time, the pressure reaches fantastic values ​​​​of 5,000,000 atmospheres. Metallic hydrogen is a hypothetical substance characterized by the presence of free electrons and conductive electric current, as is characteristic of metals.

Moons of the planet Jupiter

The largest planet in the solar system has 16 natural satellites. Four of them, which Galileo spoke about, have their own unique world. One of them, the satellite of Io, has amazing landscapes of rocky rocks with real volcanoes, on which the Galileo apparatus, which studied the satellites, captured the volcanic eruption. The largest satellite in the solar system, Ganymede, although inferior in diameter to the satellites of Saturn, Titan and Neptune, Triton, has an ice crust that covers the surface of the satellite with a thickness of 100 km. There is an assumption that there is water under a thick layer of ice. Also, the existence of an underground ocean is also hypothesized on the Europa satellite, which also consists of a thick layer of ice; faults are clearly visible in the images, as if from icebergs. And the most ancient inhabitant of the solar system can rightly be considered a satellite of Jupiter Calisto, there are more craters on its surface than on any other surface of other objects in the solar system, and the surface has not changed much over the past billion years.

Jupiter is perhaps one of the most interesting and mysterious planets in our solar system. This planet was familiar to people from ancient times, is mentioned in the writings of the sages of those times, and also influenced the formation of mythology and religious beliefs of various cultures - Babylonian, Greek, Mesopotamian and others. website prepared for you some interesting facts about Jupiter, this amazing giant planet.

1. Where is Jupiter located and why is it famous?

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun, located between Mars and Saturn. In addition, it is the largest planet in our solar system. To be able to visualize its volume - imagine our Earth multiplied by 1300, and increase the diameter by 11 times! It is hard to imagine? Also, Jupiter is 317 times heavier than the Earth, and the gravity on it exceeds the Earth's by 2.5 times. That is, an ordinary person weighing 70 kilograms would weigh at least 170 kg there! The force of attraction of this planet is so great that it could well change the orbit of a comet flying past. So, for example, in 1992 a comet approached Jupiter, being at a distance of about 15 thousand km. The powerful gravitational field of the planet managed to break its core and the comet itself into 17 fragments.

2. How fast does Jupiter rotate?

Another interesting fact about Jupiter is that it is the fastest planet in our solar system. It takes only 10 hours to make a complete rotation around its axis. The reasons for such a rapid rotation are the magnetic field and radiation around the planet. However, to make a complete revolution around the Sun, it will take as much as 12 years.

Speaking of the magnetic field, it is worth adding that Jupiter also has the strongest in our solar system. It is 14 times larger than on Earth. And the radiation emitted by Jupiter is so strong that it can even damage spacecraft flying too close to it.

3. How many moons does Jupiter have?

Jupiter is also famous for its huge number of satellites. Of the currently studied planets, it has the largest number of them - 63. And this is only for today. At the same time, scientists do not cease to speculate that there may be at least 100 of them. The bulk of the satellites have a diameter of 2-4 kilometers, that is, they are relatively small. The 4 most famous satellites of Jupiter are: Io, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto and they were discovered by Galileo Galilei. Ganymede is the largest of all known satellites, its diameter is 5262 km, the duration of rotation around Jupiter is 7 days. And the satellite Io will be replaced by severe volcanoes and mountains located on it.

4. What is Jupiter made of?

Jupiter is a giant made up almost entirely of helium and hydrogen. But, it also has a hard core. The atmosphere of the planet consists mainly of hydrogen and helium: by volume, their amount is respectively 89% and 11%, and by mass - 80% and 20%. Thus, Jupiter resembles the chemical composition of the Sun. Jupiter's atmosphere has a slightly orange color due to compounds of phosphorus and sulfur, as well as ammonia and acetylene.

5. What is this red spot on Jupiter?

The first person to notice the Great Red Spot on Jupiter was Giovanni Cassini in 1665. The spot looks like a giant anticyclone hurricane and a hundred years ago it had a length of 40 thousand kilometers. However, in our time, its size has decreased by half. This red spot is actually a huge atmospheric vortex, the largest in the solar system. It rotates counterclockwise and its speed is about 435 km/h.

6. Do storms happen on Jupiter?

Storms on Jupiter are quite common. Jupiter is surrounded by dense clouds of gas, and its atmosphere consists of light and dark zones separated by swift eddy currents. The wind speed in some of them is about 540 km/h. But usually storms do not last more than 3-4 days. Although sometimes it can last for months. Such hurricanes are always accompanied by lightning and are much more terrible than storms that can be encountered on the ground. Especially strong hurricanes occur every 15-17 years and sweep away everything in their path.

7. Does Jupiter have rings?

It has always been believed that only Saturn has rings, which is known for them. However, in 1979, a discovery was made that amazed scientists - Jupiter also has them! Another amazing fact about Jupiter! For a long time, their origin remained a mystery, but the Galileo spacecraft, which was in the orbit of Jupiter from 1995 to 2003, managed to obtain data on this. It turned out that the rings are the result of a collision of meteoroids with small satellites of Jupiter. As a result of the impact, large amounts of dirt and dust were thrown into the orbit of Jupiter, thereby forming a kind of ring. Four rings of Jupiter are now known. The most important of them - left after the collision of meteorites with 4 satellites (Thebe, Metis, Adrastea and Almatea).

8. Is there life on Jupiter?

At present, scientists practically exclude the possibility of the existence of life on Jupiter due to the low concentration of water in the atmosphere and the absence of a solid surface. Although in the 70s the American astronomer Carl Sagan speculated about the possibility of the existence of life in the upper atmosphere, this fact has not been scientifically proven. However, there is a chance of water-hydrocarbon life on Jupiter, since in the layer of the atmosphere containing clouds of water vapor, the temperature and pressure are very favorable for this.

Now you know the basic facts about this amazing and mysterious planet. We hope that interesting facts about Jupiter will add a little new to your knowledge of the great and infinite Universe.

Jupiter is the largest planet solar system. It is located in the fifth orbit from the Sun.
Belongs to the category gas giants and fully justifies the correctness of such a classification.

Jupiter got its name in honor of the ancient supreme god of thunder. Probably due to the fact that the planet has been known since ancient times and sometimes met in mythology.

Weight and size.
If you compare the sizes of Jupiter and the Earth, you can understand how much they differ. Jupiter exceeds the radius of our planet by more than 11 times.
At the same time, the mass of Jupiter is 318 times greater than the mass of the Earth! And this is also affected by the small density of the giant (it is almost 5 times inferior to the earth).

Structure and composition.
The core of the planet, which is very interesting, is stone. Its diameter is about 20 thousand kilometers.
Then follows a layer of metallic hydrogen, having twice the diameter of the core. The temperature of this layer ranges from 6 to 20 thousand degrees.
The next layer is a substance of hydrogen, helium, ammonia, water and others. Its thickness is also about 20 thousand kilometers. Interestingly, at the surface this layer has a gaseous form, but then gradually turns into a liquid.
Well, the last, outer layer - consists, for the most part, of hydrogen. There is also some helium and a little less other elements. This layer is gaseous.

Orbit and rotation.
The speed of Jupiter's orbit is not very high. The planet makes a full revolution around the central star in almost 12 years.
But the speed of rotation around its axis, on the contrary, is high. And even more - the highest among all the planets of the system. Turnover takes a little less than 10 hours.

Information about the planet Jupiter

Atmosphere.
Jupiter's atmosphere is about 89% hydrogen and 8-10% helium. The remaining crumbs fall on methane, ammonium, water and more.
When observed from afar, the bands of Jupiter are clearly visible - layers of the atmosphere that are different in composition, temperature and pressure. They even have different colors - some are lighter, others are darker. Sometimes they move around the planet in different directions and almost always at different speeds, which is quite beautiful.

In the atmosphere of Jupiter, pronounced phenomena occur: lightning, storms, and others. They are much larger than on our planet.

Temperature.
Despite the distance from the Sun, the temperatures on the planet are very high.
In the atmosphere - from about -110 ° C to +1000 ° C. Well, as the distance to the center of the planet decreases, the temperature also increases.
But it doesn't happen evenly. Especially for its atmosphere - the change in temperature in its different layers occurs in a rather unexpected way. So far, it has not been possible to explain all such changes.

- Due to the rapid rotation around its axis, Jupiter is slightly elongated in height. So, its equatorial radius exceeds the polar one by almost 5 thousand kilometers (71.5 thousand km and 66.8 thousand km, respectively).

- The diameter of Jupiter is as close as possible to the limit for planets of this type of structure. With a theoretical further increase in the planet, it would begin to shrink, while its diameter would remain almost unchanged. The one she has now.
Such contraction would lead to the emergence of a new Star.

- In the atmosphere of Jupiter there is a giant incessant hurricane - the so-called Jupiter's red spot(because of its color when observed). The size of this spot exceeds several diameters of the Earth! 15 to 30 thousand kilometers - approximately these are its dimensions (and it has also decreased by 2 times over the past 100 years).

- The planet has 3 very thin and inconspicuous rings.

It's raining diamonds on Jupiter.

- Jupiter has the largest number of satellites among all the planets of the solar system - 67.
On one of these satellites, Europa, there is a global ocean that reaches a depth of 90 kilometers. The volume of water in this ocean is greater than the volume of the Earth's oceans (although the satellite is noticeably smaller than the Earth in size). Perhaps there are living organisms in this ocean.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun in the solar system. This is a giant planet. The equatorial diameter of Jupiter is almost 11 times that of Earth. The mass of Jupiter exceeds the mass of the Earth by 318 times.

The planet Jupiter has been known to people since ancient times: like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, it can be seen in the night sky with the naked eye. When, at the end of the 16th century, the first imperfect telescopes began to spread in Europe, the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei decided to make such an instrument for himself. He also guessed to use it for the benefit of astronomy. In 1610, Galileo saw through a telescope tiny "stars" revolving around Jupiter. These four satellites discovered by Galileo (Galilean satellites) were named Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto.

The ancient Romans identified many of their gods with the Greeks. Jupiter - the supreme Roman god is identical to the supreme god of Olympus - Zeus. The satellites of Jupiter were given the names of characters from the environment of Zeus. Io is one of his many lovers. Europa is a beautiful Phoenician, whom Zeus kidnapped, transforming into a mighty bull. Ganymede is a handsome young cup-bearer who serves Zeus. Nymph Callisto, out of jealousy, the wife of Zeus, Hera, turned into a bear. Zeus placed it in the sky in the form of the constellation Ursa Major.

For almost three centuries, only the Galilean satellites remained known to science as satellites of Jupiter. In 1892, the fifth satellite of Jupiter, Amalthea, was discovered. Amalthea is a divine goat who nursed Zeus with her milk when his mother was forced to shelter her newborn son from the unbridled wrath of his father, the god Kronos. The Horn of Amalthea has become a fabulous cornucopia. After Amalthea, the discoveries of the moons of Jupiter fell like a cornucopia. There are currently 63 known moons of Jupiter.

Jupiter and its moons are not only studied by scientists from Earth using modern scientific methods, but have also been examined from a closer distance using spacecraft. The American interplanetary automatic station "Pioneer-10" for the first time approached a relatively close distance to Jupiter in 1973, "Pioneer-11" - a year later. In 1979, the American spacecraft Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 approached Jupiter. In 2000, the automatic interplanetary station "Cassini" passed by Jupiter, transmitting photographs and unique information about the planet and its satellites to Earth. From 1995 to 2003, the Galileo spacecraft operated within the Jupiter system, whose mission was to study Jupiter and its satellites in detail. Spacecraft not only helped to collect a large amount of information about Jupiter and its many satellites, but also discovered a ring around Jupiter, consisting of small solid particles.

The entire swarm of Jupiter's moons can be divided into two groups. One of them is internal (located closer to Jupiter), which includes four Galilean satellites and Amalthea. All of them, except for the relatively small Amalthea, are large cosmic bodies. The diameter of the smallest of the Galilean satellites - Europa - is approximately 0.9 of the diameter of our moon. The diameter of the largest - Ganymede is 1.5 times the diameter of the moon. All these satellites move in their almost circular orbits in the plane of Jupiter's equator in the direction of the planet's rotation. Like our Moon, the Galilean satellites of Jupiter are always turned to their planet by the same side: the time of revolution of each satellite around its axis and around the planet is the same. Most scientists believe that these five moons of Jupiter formed along with their planet.

A huge number of the outer satellites of Jupiter are small cosmic bodies. External satellites in their movement do not adhere to the plane of the Jupiterian equator. Most of the outer satellites revolve around Jupiter in the opposite direction of the planet's rotation. Most likely, they are all "strangers" in the world of Jupiter. Perhaps they are fragments of large cosmic bodies that collided in the vicinity of Jupiter, or one progenitor that fell apart in a strong gravitational field.

At present, scientists have collected a large amount of information about the planet Jupiter and its satellites, spacecraft have transmitted to the earth a huge number of photographs taken from relatively close distances. But the real sensation, which broke the previously existing ideas of scientists about the satellites of the planets, was the fact that volcanic eruptions occur on Jupiter's satellite Io. Small cosmic bodies during their existence cool down in outer space, in their depths there should not be a huge temperature necessary to maintain volcanic activity.

Io is not just a body that still retains some traces of subsurface activity, but the most active volcanic body in the solar system known at the present time. Volcanic eruptions on Io can be considered almost continuous. And in their strength they are many times greater than the eruptions of terrestrial volcanoes.

Characteristics of Jupiter

What gives “life” to a small cosmic body, which should have turned into a dead lump long ago. Scientists believe that the body of the planet is constantly warmed up due to friction in the rocks that form the satellite, under the influence of the huge gravitational force of Jupiter and the forces of attraction from Europa and Ganymede. For each revolution, Io changes its orbit twice, moving radially 10 km towards and away from Jupiter. Periodically compressing and unclenching, Io's body heats up just like a bent wire heats up.

Engage children in known facts and yet unrevealed mysteries of Jupiter and members of his large family. The Internet provides an opportunity to satisfy interest in this topic.

4.14. Jupiter

4.14.1. physical characteristics

Jupiter (gas giant) is the fifth planet in the solar system.
Equatorial radius: 71492 ± 4 km, polar radius: 66854 ± 10 km.
Mass: 1.8986 × 1027 kg or 317.8 Earth masses.
Average density: 1.326 g/cm³.
The spherical albedo of Jupiter is 0.54.

The flow of internal heat per unit area of ​​the "surface" of Jupiter is approximately equal to the flow received from the Sun. In this respect, Jupiter is closer to the stars than to the terrestrial planets. However, the source of Jupiter's internal energy is obviously not nuclear reactions. A reserve of energy accumulated during the gravitational contraction of the planet is radiated.

4.14.2. Orbital elements and motion features

The average distance of Jupiter from the Sun is 778.55 million km (5.204 AU). The eccentricity of the orbit is e = 0.04877. The period of revolution around the Sun is 11.859 years (4331.572 days); the average orbital velocity is 13.07 km/s. The inclination of the orbit to the plane of the ecliptic is 1.305°. Tilt of the axis of rotation: 3.13°. Since the equatorial plane of the planet is close to the plane of its orbit, there are no seasons on Jupiter.

Jupiter rotates faster than any other planet in the solar system, and the angular velocity of rotation decreases from the equator to the poles. The rotation period is 9.925 hours. Due to the rapid rotation, the polar compression of Jupiter is very noticeable: the polar radius is 6.5% less than the equatorial one.

Jupiter has the largest atmosphere among the planets in the solar system, which extends to a depth of more than 5000 km. Since Jupiter does not have a solid surface, the inner boundary of the atmosphere corresponds to the depth at which the pressure is 10 bar (i.e., approximately 10 atm).

Jupiter's atmosphere mainly consists of molecular hydrogen H 2 (about 90%) and helium He (about 10%). The atmosphere also contains simple molecular compounds: water, methane, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and phosphine, etc. Traces of the simplest hydrocarbons, ethane, benzene, and other compounds, have also been found.

The atmosphere has a pronounced striped structure, consisting of light zones and dark zones, which are the result of the manifestation of convective currents that carry internal heat to the surface.

In the area of ​​light zones, there is an increased pressure corresponding to ascending flows. The clouds that form the zones are located at a higher level, and their light color is apparently due to the increased concentration of ammonia NH 3 and ammonium hydrosulfide NH 4 HS.

The dark belt clouds below are believed to contain compounds of phosphorus and sulfur, as well as some of the simplest hydrocarbons. These, under normal conditions, colorless compounds, as a result of exposure to UV radiation from the Sun, acquire a dark color. Dark belt clouds have a higher temperature than light zones and are areas of downdrafts. Zones and belts have different speeds of movement in the direction of rotation of Jupiter.

Jupiter in the infrared

At the boundaries of belts and zones, where strong turbulence is observed, vortex structures arise, the most striking example of which is the Great Red Spot (GRS) - a giant cyclone in Jupiter's atmosphere that has existed for more than 350 years. The gas in the BKP rotates counterclockwise with a rotation period of about 6 Earth days. The wind speed inside the spot exceeds 500 km/h. The bright orange color of the spot is apparently associated with the presence of sulfur and phosphorus in the atmosphere.

Jupiter is the most massive planet

The BKP is about 30,000 km long and 13,000 km wide (substantially larger than the Earth). The size of the spot is constantly changing, and there is a tendency to decrease it, since 100 years ago the BKL was about 2 times larger. The spot moves parallel to the planet's equator.

4.14.4. Internal structure

The internal structure of Jupiter

It is currently assumed that Jupiter has a solid core at its center, followed by a layer of liquid metallic hydrogen with a small amount of helium, and an outer layer consisting mainly of molecular hydrogen. Despite the general, generally formed concept, it contains, however, many more vague and unclear details.

To describe the core, the model of the planet's stone core is most often used, but neither the properties of matter at extreme pressures and temperatures reached in the core (at least 3000–4500 GPa and 36000 K) nor its detailed composition are known. The presence of a solid core with a mass of 12 to 45 Earth masses (or 3–15% of the mass of Jupiter) follows from measurements of Jupiter's gravitational field. In addition, a solid (ice or stone) proto-Jupiter embryo for the subsequent accretion of light hydrogen and helium is a necessary element in modern models of the origin of planetary systems (see Section 4.6).

The core is surrounded by a layer of metallic hydrogen with an admixture of helium and neon condensed into drops. This shell extends over about 78% of the planet's radius. To achieve the state of liquid metallic hydrogen, it is necessary (according to estimates) to have a pressure of at least 200 GPa and a temperature of about 10,000 K.

Above the layer of metallic hydrogen lies a shell consisting of gas-liquid (being in a supercritical state) hydrogen with an admixture of helium. The upper part of this shell smoothly passes into the outer layer - the atmosphere of Jupiter.

Within the framework of this simple three-layer model, there is no clear boundary between the main layers, however, the phase transition regions also have a small thickness. Therefore, it can be assumed that almost all processes are localized, which makes it possible to consider each layer separately.

Jupiter has a powerful magnetic field. The field strength at the level of the visible surface of the clouds is 14 oersteds at the north pole and 10.7 oersteds at the south. The axis of the dipole is inclined to the axis of rotation by 10°, and the polarity is opposite to the polarity of the earth's magnetic field. The existence of a magnetic field is explained by the presence of metallic hydrogen in the bowels of Jupiter, which, being a good conductor, rotating at high speed, creates magnetic fields.

Jupiter is surrounded by a powerful magnetosphere, which on the day side extends to a distance of 50–100 planetary radii, and on the night side extends beyond the orbit of Saturn. If Jupiter's magnetosphere could be seen from the surface of the Earth, then its angular dimensions would exceed the dimensions of the Moon.

Compared to the Earth's magnetosphere, Jupiter's magnetosphere is not only large and powerful, but also has a slightly different shape, and, along with the dipole, has pronounced quadrupole and octupole components. The shape of Jupiter's magnetosphere is due to two additional factors that are absent in the case of the Earth - the rapid rotation of Jupiter and the presence of a close and powerful source of magnetospheric plasma - Jupiter's satellite Io.

Jupiter in the radio

Due to volcanic activity, Io, located at a distance of only about 4.9R J from the upper layer of the planet, every second supplies up to 1 ton of neutral gas rich in sulfur, sulfur dioxide, oxygen, and sodium to Jupiter's magnetosphere. This gas is partially ionized and forms a plasma torus near Io's orbit.

As a result of the joint action of fast rotation and intramagnetospheric formation of plasma, an additional source of the magnetic field is created - Jupiter's magnetodisk. The plasma is concentrated in the core of the magnetosphere in the low-latitude region, forming a magnetodisk - a thin current sheet, the azimuthal current in which decreases in proportion to the distance from the planet. The total current in the magnetodisk reaches a value of about 100 million amperes.

Electrons moving in the radiation belts of Jupiter are a source of powerful incoherent synchrotron radiation of the magnetosphere in the radio range.

4.14.6. General characteristics of the satellites and rings of Jupiter

Jupiter is currently known to have 63 natural moons and a ring system. All satellites are divided into two categories: regular and irregular.

Eight regular satellites revolve around Jupiter in the direction of its rotation in almost circular orbits. Regular satellites, in turn, are divided into internal (satellites of the Amalthea group) and main (or Galilean).

Shepherd Companions. The four inner moons of Jupiter - Metis (60 × 40 × 34 km), Adrastea (20 × 16 × 14 km), Amalthea (250 × 146 × 128 km) and Theba (116 × 98 × 84 km) - have an irregular shape and play the role of the so-called. shepherd moons that keep Jupiter's rings from falling apart.

Rings of Jupiter. Jupiter has faint rings that are at an altitude of 55,000 km from the atmosphere. There are two main rings and one very thin inner one, with a characteristic orange coloration. The main part of the rings has a radius of 123–129 thousand km. The thickness of the rings is about 30 km. To the earthly observer, the rings are almost always turned edge-on, which is why they went unnoticed for a long time. The rings themselves consist mainly of dust and small stone particles that reflect the sun's rays poorly, and therefore they are difficult to distinguish.

Galilean satellites. The four Galilean moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) are among the largest moons in the solar system. The total mass of the Galilean satellites is 99.999% of all objects orbiting Jupiter (for more details about the Galilean satellites, see further in section 4.14.7).

irregular satellites. It is customary to call irregular such satellites whose orbits have large eccentricities; or satellites that orbit in the opposite direction; or satellites whose orbits are characterized by large inclinations to the equatorial plane. Irregular satellites are, apparently, asteroids captured from among the "Trojans" or "Greeks".

Irregular satellites that revolve around Jupiter in the direction of its rotation:
Themisto (does not form a family);
the Himalia group (Leda, Himalia, Lysitia, Elara, S/2000 J 11);
Carpo (does not form a family).

Irregular satellites that revolve around Jupiter in the opposite direction:
S/2003 J 12 (does not form a family);
Carme group (13 satellites);
the Ananke group (16 satellites);
the Pasiphe group (17 satellites);
S/2003 J 2 (does not form a family).

4.14.7. Galilean satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto

The Galilean satellites of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) were discovered by Galileo Galilei (after whom they were named) on January 8, 1610.

The Galilean satellites rotate synchronously and always face Jupiter with the same side (i.e., they are in spin-orbit resonance 1:1) due to the influence of the powerful tidal forces of the giant planet. In addition, Io, Europa and Ganymede are in orbital resonance - their orbital periods are related as 1:2:4. The stability of the orbital resonances of the Galilean satellites has been observed since the moment of discovery, i.e., for 400 Earth years and more than 20 thousand "satellite" (Ganymede) years (the period of revolution of Ganymede is 7.155 Earth days).

And about(average diameter - 3640 km, mass - 8.93 × 10 22 kg or 0.015 Earth masses, average density - 3.528 g / cm 3) is closer than other Galilean satellites to Jupiter (on average at a distance of 4.9R J from its surface) than , apparently, and due to its volcanic activity - the highest in the solar system. At the same time, more than 10 volcanoes can erupt on the surface of Io. As a result, Io's topography changes completely within a few hundred years. The largest eruptions of Ionian volcanoes eject matter at a speed of 1 km / s to a height of up to 300 km. Like terrestrial volcanoes, volcanoes on Io emit sulfur and sulfur dioxide. Impact craters on Io are practically absent, as they are destroyed by constant eruptions and lava flows. In addition to volcanoes, Io has non-volcanic mountains, lakes of molten sulfur, and viscous lava flows hundreds of kilometers long. Unlike other Galilean moons, Io has no water or ice.

Europe(diameter - 3122 km, mass - 4.80 × 10 22 kg or 0.008 Earth masses, average density - 3.01 g / cm 3) is located on average at a distance of 8.4R J from the surface of Jupiter. Europa is completely covered by a layer of water, supposedly about 100 km thick (partly in the form of an icy surface crust 10–30 km thick; partly, it is believed, in the form of a subsurface liquid ocean). Further, rocks lie, and in the center there is presumably a small metal core. The depth of the ocean is up to 90 km, and its volume exceeds the volume of the world ocean of the Earth. The heat needed to keep it in a liquid state is presumably generated by tidal interactions (in particular, tides raise the surface of the satellite to a height of up to 30 meters). Europa's surface is very flat, with only a few hill-like formations several hundred meters high. The high albedo (0.67) of the satellite indicates that the surface ice is fairly clean. The number of craters is small, there are only three craters larger than 5 km in diameter.

Jupiter's strong magnetic field causes electric currents in the salty ocean of Europa, which form its unusual magnetic field.

The magnetic poles are located near the equator of the satellite and are constantly shifting. Changes in the strength and orientation of the field correlate with the passage of Europa through Jupiter's magnetic field. It is assumed that life can exist in the ocean of Europa.

There are basically two types of regions on the surface of Ganymede: very old, heavily cratered dark regions and more "young" (but also ancient) light regions marked by extended rows of ridges and depressions. The origin of the light regions is obviously associated with tectonic processes. Numerous impact craters are found on both types of Ganymede's surface, which indicates their antiquity - up to 3–3.5 billion years (like the lunar surface).

Callisto(diameter - 4821 km, mass - 1.08 × 10 23 kg or 0.018 Earth masses, average density - 1.83 g / cm 3) is located on average at a distance of 25.3R J from the surface of Jupiter. Callisto is one of the most cratered bodies in the solar system. Consequently, the surface of the satellite is very old (about 4 billion years), and its geological activity is extremely low. Callisto has the lowest density of all the Galilean satellites (there is a tendency: the further the satellite is from Jupiter, the lower its density) and probably consists of 60% of ice and water and 40% of rocks and iron. It is assumed that Callisto is covered with a 200 km thick ice crust, under which there is a layer of water about 10 km thick. The deeper layers seem to consist of compressed rocks and ice, with a gradual increase in rocks and iron towards the center.

Additional literature:

T. Owen, S. Atreya, H. Nieman. "Sudden guess": the first results of the sounding of the atmosphere of Titan by the spacecraft "Huygens"

Basic data

An object	radius orbits, million km Planet Jupiter short description	orbital circulation period	radius, thousand km	weight, kg	circulation period around its axis, days	free fall acceleration, g	surface temperature, K
Sun	—	—	695	2*10^30	24,6
Mercury	58	88 days	2,4	3,3*10^23	58,6	0,38	440
Venus	108	225 days	6,1	4,9*10^24	243 (arr)	0,91	730
Earth	150	365 days	6,4	6*10^24	1	1	287
Mars	228	687 days	3,4	6,4*10^23	1,03	0,38	218
Jupiter	778	12 years	71	1,9*10^27	0,41	2,4	120
Saturn	1429	29 years	60	5,7*10^26	0,45	0,92	88
Uranus	2871	84 years old	26	8,7*10^25	0.72 (sample)	0,89	59
Neptune	4504	165 years	25	1,0*10^26	0,67	1,1	48

The largest satellites of the planets

An object	radius orbits, thousand km.	orbital circulation period, days	radius, km	weight, kg	revolves around
gannymede	1070	7,2	2634	1,5*10^23	Jupiter
Titanium	1222	16	2575	1,4*10^23	Saturn
Callisto	1883	16,7	2403	1,1*10^23	Jupiter
And about	422	1,8	1821	8,9*10^22	Jupiter
Moon	384	27,3	1738	7,4*10^22	Earth
Europe	671	3,6	1565	4,8*10^22	Jupiter
Triton	355	5.9 (arr)	1353	2,2*10^22	Neptune

arr - rotates in the direction opposite to the orbit

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, its diameter is 11 times the diameter of the Earth, and its mass is 318 times the mass of the Earth. Jupiter's orbit around the Sun takes 12 years, while the average distance to the Sun is 800 million km. The belts of clouds in the atmosphere and the Great Red Spot make Jupiter a very picturesque planet.

Jupiter is not a solid planet. Unlike the four solid planets closest to the Sun, Jupiter is a huge ball of gas. There are three more gas giants that are even more distant from the Sun: Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. In their chemical composition, these gaseous planets are very similar to the Sun and very different from the solid inner planets of the solar system. Jupiter's atmosphere, for example, is 85 percent hydrogen and about 14 percent helium. Although we cannot see any hard, rocky surface through Jupiter's clouds, deep inside the planet, hydrogen is under such pressure that it takes on some of the characteristics of a metal.

Jupiter rotates on its axis extremely fast - it makes one revolution in 10 hours. The rotation speed is so high that the planet bulges along the equator. This rapid rotation is also the cause of very strong winds in the upper atmosphere, where the clouds are stretched out in long colorful ribbons. Different parts of the atmosphere rotate at slightly different speeds, and it is this difference that gives rise to cloud bands. Clouds over Jupiter are heterogeneous, stormy, so the appearance of cloud bands can change in just a few days. In the clouds of Jupiter there is, in addition, a very large number of vortices and large spots. The largest of them is the so-called Great Red Spot, which is larger than the Earth. It can be seen even through a small telescope. The Great Red Spot is a huge storm in Jupiter's atmosphere that has been observed for 300 years. There are at least 16 moons orbiting Jupiter. One of
them, is the largest satellite and our solar system; it is larger than the planet Mercury.

Travel to Jupiter

Five spaceships have already been sent to Jupiter. The fifth of them, Galileo, was sent on a six-year journey in October 1989. The spacecraft Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 made the first measurements. They were followed by the two Voyager spacecraft, which in 1979 took breathtaking close-up photographs. After 1991, photographing Jupiter was done by the Hubble Space Telescope, and these pictures are not inferior in quality to those taken by the Voyagers. In addition, the Hubble Space Telescope will take photographs for several years, while the Voyagers had only a short period of time while they flew past Jupiter.

clouds of poisonous gas

The dark, reddish bands on Jupiter are called belts, while the lighter bands are called zones. Photographs taken by spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope tingle that in just a few weeks, noticeable changes occur in the belts and buttocks. This is due to the fact that the characteristic features of Jupiter that we see are actually colored and white clouds in the upper atmosphere. Near the Great Red Spot, the clouds form beautiful patterns with swirls and waves. The clouds swirling in vortices are blown away along the bands by the strongest winds, the speed of which exceeds 500 km/h.

Much of Jupiter's atmosphere would be fatal to humans. In addition to the predominant gases, hydrogen and helium, it also contains methane, poisonous ammonia, water vapor and acetylene. You would find such a place stinking. This gas composition is similar to the sun.

The white clouds contain crystals of frozen ammonia and water ice. The brown, red, and blue clouds may owe their color to chemicals like our dyes, or sulfur. Thunderbolts can be seen through the outer layers of the atmosphere.

The active cloud layer is quite thin, less than one hundredth of the planet's radius. Below the clouds, the temperature gradually rises. And although on the surface of the cloud layer it is -160 ° C, having descended through the atmosphere only 60 km, we would find the same temperature as on the surface of the Earth. And a little deeper, the temperature already reaches the boiling point of water.

Unusual substance

In the depths of Jupiter, matter begins to carry itself in a very unusual way. Although it cannot be ruled out that there is a small iron core in the center of the planet, nevertheless, the largest part of the deep region consists of hydrogen. Inside the planet, under enormous pressure, hydrogen from a gas turns into a liquid. At deeper and deeper levels, the pressure keeps trying because of the colossal weight of the upper layers of the atmosphere.

At a depth of about 100 km there is a boundless ocean of liquid hydrogen. Below 17,000 km, hydrogen is compressed so strongly that its atoms are destroyed. And then it starts behaving like metal; in this state, it easily conducts electricity. An electric current flowing in metallic hydrogen creates a strong magnetic field around Jupiter.

Metallic hydrogen and the depths of Jupiter is an example of an unusual kind of matter that astronomers can study, which is almost impossible to reproduce in laboratory conditions.

Almost a star

Jupiter releases more energy than it receives from the Sun. Measurements made by spacecraft showed that Jupiter radiates about 60 percent more thermal energy than it receives from solar radiation.

It is believed that additional heat comes from three sources: from the heat reserves left over from the time of the formation of Jupiter; the sludge of energy released and the process of slow contraction, contraction of the planet; and, finally, from the energy of radioactive decay.

Planet Jupiter

This heat, however, does not result from the cessation of hydrogen into helium, as happens in stars. In fact, even the smallest of the stars that use the energy of such a termination are about 80 times more massive than Jupiter. This means that in other "solar systems" there may be planets larger than Jupiter, although smaller than a star.

Jupiter radio station

Jupiter is a natural radio station. No meaning can be extracted from Jupiter's radio signals, since they are entirely made up of noise. These radio signals are created by electrons zipping through Jupiter's very strong magnetic field. Powerful storms and lightning strikes are superimposed on a chaotic radio rumble. Jupiter has a strong magnetic field that extends 50 planet diameters in all directions. No other planet in the solar system has such a strong magnetism and does not create such a powerful radio emission.

Moons of Jupiter

The family of 16 moons of Jupiter is, as it were, a solar system in miniature, where Jupiter plays the role of the Sun, and its magnifiers play the role of planets. The largest moon is Ganymede, its diameter is 5262 km. It is covered with a thick crust of ice overlying a rocky core. There are numerous traces of meteorite bombardments, as well as evidence of a collision with a giant asteroid 4 billion years ago.

Callisto is almost as large as Ganymede, and its entire surface is densely dotted with craters. Europe has the lightest surface. One-fifth of Europe consists of water, which forms a 100 km thick ice shell on it. This ice sheet reflects light as strongly as the clouds of Venus.

Of all the loops, the most picturesque is Io, which rotates closest to Jupiter. Cyst Io is quite unusual - it is a mixture of black, red and yellow. Such an amazing color is due to the fact that a large amount of sulfur was erupted from the depths of Io. The Voyager cameras showed several active volcanoes on Io; they throw sulfur fountains up to 200 km above the surface. Sulfuric lava flies out at a speed of 1000 m and a second. Some of this lava material escapes from Io's gravity zero and forms a ring encircling Jupiter.

The surface of Io is ground. We can promise this because there are almost notes of meteorite craters on it. Io's orbit is less than 400,000 km from Jupiter. Therefore, Io is subjected to huge tidal forces. The constant alternation of tensile and compressive tides inside Io generates intense internal friction. This keeps the interior hot and molten despite Io's vast distance from the Sun.

In addition to the four large moons, Jupiter also has small “loops”. Four of them fly lower on Jupiter's surface than Io, and scientists believe they are simply large fragments of other moons that have ceased to exist.

In ancient Roman mythology, Jupiter is identified with the Greek Zeus. He is often referred to as "God the Father" or "Father of the Gods". Jupiter was the son of Saturn, the brother of Neptune, and the sister of Juno, who was also his wife. In turn, the planet Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Ironically, a spacecraft with the name "Juno" was sent to Jupiter for "matchmaking". And while the probe is just about to discover many of the secrets of its "narrowed", today we will consider several already known facts about this gas giant.

Jupiter could become a star

In 1610, Galileo discovered Jupiter and its four largest moons: Europa, Io, Callisto and Ganymede, which today are called the Galilean satellites. This was the first time that a space object was observed orbiting a planet. Previously, observations were made only of the Moon revolving around the Earth. Later, thanks to this very observation, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus gave weight to his theory that the Earth is not the center of the universe. This is how the heliocentric model of the world appeared.

As the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter has twice the mass of all the other planets in the solar system. Jupiter's atmosphere is more like that of a star than a planet, and is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. Scientists agree that if the reserves of these elements were 80 times more, then Jupiter would turn into a real star. And with four main moons and many (67 in total) smaller moons, Jupiter itself is almost a miniature copy of its own solar system. This planet is so huge that it would take more than 1,300 Earth-sized planets to fill the volume of this gas giant.
Jupiter and its famous Great Red Spot

The amazing color of Jupiter consists of light and dark belt zones, which, in turn, are caused by constant powerful winds blowing from east to west at a speed of 650 kilometers per hour. Areas with light clouds in the upper atmosphere contain frozen, crystallized ammonia particles. Darker clouds contain different chemical elements. These climatic features are constantly changing and never linger for long intervals.

In addition to the fact that it often rains real diamonds on Jupiter, another famous feature of this gas giant is its huge red spot. This spot is a giant hurricane rotating counterclockwise. The size of this hurricane is almost three times the diameter of the earth. The wind speed in the center of the hurricane reaches 450 kilometers per hour. The giant red spot is constantly changing in size, either increasing and becoming even brighter, or decreasing and becoming dimmer.
Jupiter's amazing magnetic field

The strength of Jupiter's magnetic field is almost 20,000 times stronger than the strength of the Earth's magnetic field. Jupiter can rightfully be considered the king of the magnetic fields of our planetary system. The planet is surrounded by an incredible field of electrically charged particles that non-stop bombarding other planets in the solar system. At the same time, the level of radiation near Jupiter is up to 1000 times higher than the lethal one for humans. The radiation density is so strong that it can damage even well-protected spacecraft, such as the Galileo probe.

Jupiter's magnetosphere extends from 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 kilometers towards the Sun and up to 1 billion kilometers towards the outer boundaries of the system.
Jupiter is the king of rotation

It only takes Jupiter about 10 hours to complete a full rotation on its axis. A day on Jupiter ranges from 9 hours 56 minutes at both poles to 9 hours 50 minutes at the gas giant's equatorial zone. As a result of this feature, the equatorial zone of the planet is 7 percent wider than the polar ones.

As a gas giant, Jupiter does not rotate as a single solid spherical object, such as, for example, the Earth. Instead, the planet rotates somewhat faster in the equatorial zone and slightly slower in the polar regions. The total rotation speed in this case is about 50,000 kilometers per hour, which is 27 times faster than the Earth's rotation speed.
Jupiter is the largest source of radio waves in the solar system.

Another feature of Jupiter that boggles the imagination is how powerful radio waves it emits. Jupiter's radio noise even affects shortwave antennas here on Earth. Radio waves that are not audible to the human ear can acquire very bizarre audio signals due to ground radio equipment picking them up.

Most often, these radio bursts are produced as a result of the instability of the plasma field in the gas giant's magnetosphere. Often these noises cause a stir among ufologists who believe that they have caught signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. Most astrophysicists theorize that the ion gases above Jupiter and its magnetic fields sometimes behave like very powerful radio lasers, emitting radiation so dense that Jupiter's radio signals sometimes outshine the Sun's shortwave radio signals. Scientists believe that such a special power of radio emission is somehow connected with the volcanic satellite Io.
Rings of Jupiter

NASA was very surprised when the Voyager 1 spacecraft discovered three rings around Jupiter's equator in 1979. These rings are much dimmer than Saturn's, and therefore impossible to detect with ground-based equipment.

The main ring is flat and has a thickness of about 30 kilometers and a width of about 6,000 kilometers. The inner ring - even thinner and often referred to as a halo - is about 20,000 kilometers thick. The halo of this inner ring almost reaches the outer limits of the planet's atmosphere. In this case, both rings are composed of tiny dark particles.

The third ring is even more transparent than the other two and is called the "spider ring". It consists mainly of dust accumulating around the four moons of Jupiter: Adrastea, Metis, Amalthea and Thebes. The radius of the web ring reaches about 130,000 kilometers. Planetologists believe that the rings of Jupiter, like those of Saturn, could have been formed as a result of collisions of numerous space objects, such as asteroids and comets.
planetary protector

Since Jupiter is the second largest (the first place belongs to the Sun) space objects in the solar system, its gravitational forces most likely participated in the final formation of our system and probably even allowed the emergence of life on our planet.

According to a study published in the journal Nature, Jupiter could once have pulled Uranus and Neptune to where they are now in the system. In a study published in the journal Science, it is said that Jupiter, with the participation of Saturn, attracted enough material at the dawn of the solar system to form the planets of the inner boundary.

In addition, scientists are confident that the gas giant is a kind of shield against asteroids and comets, reflecting them from other planets. New research shows that Jupiter's gravitational field affects many asteroids and changes their orbits. Thanks to this, many of these objects do not fall on the planets, including our Earth. These asteroids are called "Trojan asteroids". Three of them, the largest, are known as Hector, Achilles and Agamemnon and are named after the heroes of Homer's Iliad, which describes the events of the Trojan War.
The size of the core of Jupiter and the tiny Earth is the same

Scientists are firmly convinced that the inner core of Jupiter is 10 times smaller than the entire planet Earth. At the same time, there is an assumption that up to 80-90 percent of the core diameter falls on liquid metallic hydrogen. If we take into account that the diameter of the Earth is about 13,000 kilometers, then the diameter of the core of Jupiter should be about 1300 kilometers. And this, in turn, puts it on a par with the radius of the inner solid core of the Earth, which is also about 1300 kilometers.
Atmosphere of Jupiter. Dream or nightmare of a chemist?

Jupiter's atmospheric composition is 89.2 percent molecular hydrogen and 10.2 percent helium. The remaining percentages are stocks of ammonia, deuterium, methane, ethane, water, ammonia ice particles, and ammonium sulfide particles. In general: an explosive mixture, clearly not suitable for human life.

Since Jupiter's magnetic field is 20,000 times stronger than Earth's, it is likely that the gas giant has a very dense inner core of unknown composition, covered with a thick outer layer of helium-rich liquid metallic hydrogen. And all this is "wrapped" in an atmosphere, mainly consisting of molecular hydrogen. Well, just a true gas giant.
Calisto is the longest-suffering satellite in the solar system

Another interesting feature of Jupiter is its moon called Calisto. Calisto is the most distant of the four Galilean satellites. It takes one Earth week to complete one revolution around Jupiter. Since its orbit lies outside the gas giant's radiation belt, Callisto suffers less from tidal forces than other Galilean moons. But since Kilisto is a tidally locked moon, like our Moon, for example, one of its sides always faces Jupiter.

The diameter of Calisto is 5000 kilometers, which is approximately the size of the planet Mercury. After Ganymede and Titan, Calisto is the third largest moon in the solar system (our moon is fifth on this list, and Io is fourth). The temperature on the surface of Calisto is -139 degrees Celsius.

Being one of the four Gililean satellites, Calisto was discovered by the great astronomer Galileo Galilei and actually deprived him of a peaceful life. The discovery of Calisto contributed to the strengthening of faith in his heliocentric theory and added fuel to the fire of the astronomer's already burning conflict with the Catholic Church.