The Gas Giant
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and is mostly made up of helium and hydrogen (NASA, n.d.). It is one of the Jovian planets and has very unique characteristics. This paper will discuss Jupiter’s history, atmospheric conditions, characteristics, path of movement and personality.
The history of Jupiter dates back to 7th or 8th BC where the ancient Babylonians first sited the giant planet (The Planets, n.d.). Jupiter’s name stemmed from the king of the Roman Gods and God of the sky (The Planets, n.d.). It wasn’t until 1610 that four of Jupiter’s moons were discovered by Galileo Galilei and proved that there were celestial bodies orbiting more planets than just Earth (NASA, n.d.). In 1973 the first spacecraft flew past Jupiter named Pioneer 10 and six years later in 1979, Voyager 1 and 2 discovered many new characteristics of Jupiter including that Jupiter has rings (NASA, n.d.) The rings were a surprise to astronomers because they were hard to see. A lot of information was obtained in December of 1995 when NASA sent the Galileo spacecraft to Jupiter to drop a probe into of the dry, hot spots in the planet’s atmosphere (NASA, n.d.). This gave astronomers plenty …show more content…
It is made up of 90 percent of hydrogen and 10 percent helium, which is the same composition as the sun, but Jupiter is much smaller (The Planets, n.d.). The atmosphere changes from a gaseous outer layer to a liquid layer in the middle which has caused a lot of pressure to divide into two different horizontal bands (The Planets, n.d.). Astronomers believe these bands cause storms. One example of these storms is the Great Red Spot which is in Jupiter’s southern hemisphere (NASA, n.d.). This storm has been going on for hundreds of years and is as large as two Earth’s (NASA, n.d.). The temperature on Jupiter is vastly different than Earths and averages around -234 degrees Ferinheight and -148 degrees Celsius (NASA,
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and is mostly made up of helium and hydrogen (NASA, n.d.). It is one of the Jovian planets and has very unique characteristics. This paper will discuss Jupiter’s history, atmospheric conditions, characteristics, path of movement and personality.
The history of Jupiter dates back to 7th or 8th BC where the ancient Babylonians first sited the giant planet (The Planets, n.d.). Jupiter’s name stemmed from the king of the Roman Gods and God of the sky (The Planets, n.d.). It wasn’t until 1610 that four of Jupiter’s moons were discovered by Galileo Galilei and proved that there were celestial bodies orbiting more planets than just Earth (NASA, n.d.). In 1973 the first spacecraft flew past Jupiter named Pioneer 10 and six years later in 1979, Voyager 1 and 2 discovered many new characteristics of Jupiter including that Jupiter has rings (NASA, n.d.) The rings were a surprise to astronomers because they were hard to see. A lot of information was obtained in December of 1995 when NASA sent the Galileo spacecraft to Jupiter to drop a probe into of the dry, hot spots in the planet’s atmosphere (NASA, n.d.). This gave astronomers plenty …show more content…
It is made up of 90 percent of hydrogen and 10 percent helium, which is the same composition as the sun, but Jupiter is much smaller (The Planets, n.d.). The atmosphere changes from a gaseous outer layer to a liquid layer in the middle which has caused a lot of pressure to divide into two different horizontal bands (The Planets, n.d.). Astronomers believe these bands cause storms. One example of these storms is the Great Red Spot which is in Jupiter’s southern hemisphere (NASA, n.d.). This storm has been going on for hundreds of years and is as large as two Earth’s (NASA, n.d.). The temperature on Jupiter is vastly different than Earths and averages around -234 degrees Ferinheight and -148 degrees Celsius (NASA,