Jupiter's belts are formed from different particles.
Jupiter is a planet that is part of the solar system . It receives its name from the most important god in Roman mythology, equivalent to Zeus in Greek tradition.
It is the planet with the largest surface area among all those that revolve around the Sun : its mass is 318 times greater compared to that of the Earth . It is also the oldest.
Characteristics of Jupiter
Jupiter is an outer planet since it is located beyond the asteroid belt . Composed mostly of helium and hydrogen, it is one of the two gas giants in the solar system (the other is Saturn ). This means that its composition is based on gases and not solid materials such as rocks.
Regarding the distance from the Sun, it is located in fifth place among all the planets. The closest to the star is Mercury , followed by Venus , then comes the Earth and in fourth place is Mars . Behind Jupiter are Saturn , Uranus , and Neptune , in that order.
With an equatorial diameter of 142,984 kilometers, Jupiter has the highest rotation speed in the solar system. Astronomy experts, based on the analysis of its magnetic field , point out that it takes less than 10 hours to rotate on its axis. To go around the Sun, on the other hand, it takes about 12 Earth years.
The satellites
The satellites of Jupiter known so far are 95. A distinction can be made between the Galilean satellites (discovered by Galileo Galilei in the 17th century ) and the minor satellites .
The moon Io , the moon Europa , the moon Ganymede , and the moon Callisto are the Galilean satellites. As for the minor satellites, a distinction is made between irregular satellites and those that make up the so-called Amalthea Group .
The Galileo mission entered Jupiter's atmosphere in 1995.
Jupiter's rings
Jupiter's rings are faint and made up mostly of space dust, making them difficult to visualize. Throughout history, they have been observed and studied by the Hubble Space Telescope and by space probes such as Voyager , New Horizons , Cassini , and Galileo .
It should be noted that planetary rings are developed with small-sized particles that revolve around a planet. In 1610 , Galileo Galilei discovered the rings of Saturn and only in 1977 could those of Uranus be observed. In the case of Jupiter's rings, the Voyager 1 probe achieved the first image in 1979 .
Jupiter's ring system includes the main ring , the halo ring , the Thebe diffuse ring , and the Amalthea diffuse ring . It is believed that all these rings would have formed next to the planet itself.
The atmosphere
Jupiter's atmosphere is the largest in the solar system. It consists mainly of hydrogen and helium , although it also has methane, ammonia and other substances. It is estimated that, in deeper areas, it could also contain water.
Moving downward, the layers of Jupiter's atmosphere are the exosphere , thermosphere , stratosphere , and troposphere . Among the atmospheric phenomena on this planet there are lightning , storms and vortices.
The manifestation of these vortices occurs as very large spots. Among them, the so-called Great Red Spot stands out, an anticyclone that could have formed more than three centuries ago and that includes winds that reach 400 kilometers per hour.
Robert Hooke detected the Great Red Spot in the 17th century . At first, it was thought to be a plateau or a mountain until in the 19th century , with spectroscopy , it was understood that it was an anticyclonic vortex.
The average temperature of Jupiter is estimated at -163 ºC.
Jupiter Exploration
Exploration of Jupiter was launched thanks to NASA's Pioneer program . In 1973, the Pioneer 10 probe managed to fly over the planet, taking photos of its atmosphere and the Galilean satellites. In '74 , Pioneer 11 managed to get even closer, photographing the Great Red Spot and providing useful data to astronomers.
While the Pioneers 10 and 11 probes marked a milestone, exploration continued with the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes ( 1979 ) and the Ulysses probe ( 1992 ). Then, between 1995 and 2003 , the Galileo probe made history by orbiting Jupiter.
Valuable images of Jupiter were also obtained by the Cassini-Huygens probe on its way to Saturn in 2000 and by the New Horizons probe on its way to Pluto in 2007 .
the roman god
This term is not only used in astrophysics : as we already indicated at the beginning of this article, Jupiter (god) was a relevant mythological figure in Ancient Rome . Analogous to Zeus (Greek mythology), he was the son of Ops and Saturn and was part of the Capitoline triad with his daughter Minerva and his wife and sister Juno.
Proof of the importance of this deity is that the largest Roman temple was built in his honor: the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus , which stood on the Capitoline Hill. The consuls of the Roman Republic, in this context, when they began their mandate, consecrated their prayers to Jupiter.