Jupiter Research Essay -- Papers

Jupiter Research Jupiter is the fifth and largest planet in our solar system. This gas giant has a thick atmosphere, 17 moons, and a dark, barely-visible ring. Its most prominent features are bands across its latitudes and a great red spot, (which is a storm). Jupiter is composed mostly of gas. This enormous planet radiates twice as much heat as it absorbs from the sun. It also has an extremely strong magnetic field. It is slightly flattened at its poles and it bulges out a bit at the equator. Size: Jupiter's diameter is 88700 miles (142800km). This is a little more than 11 times the diameter of the Earth. Jupiter is so large that all the other planets in the solar system could fit inside it (if it were hollow). Mass and Gravity: Jupiter's mass is about 1.69 x 10(27) kg. Although this is 318 times the mass of the Earth, the gravity on Jupiter is only 254% of the gravity on Earth. This is because Jupiter is such a large planet (and the gravitational force a planet exerts upon an object at the planet's surface is proportional to its mass and to the inverse of its radius squared). A 100-pound person would weigh 254 pounds on Jupiter. Length Of A Day And Year On Jupiter =================================== It takes Jupiter 9.8 Earth hours to revolve around its axis (this is a Jovian day). It takes Jupiter 11.86 Earth years to orbit the sun once (this is a Jovian year). Jupiter is made of gases and liquids, so as it rotates, its parts do not rotate at exactly the same velocity. It rotates very rapidly, and this spinning action gives Jupiter a large equatorial bulge; it looks like a slightly flattened s... ...ogen molecules move freely from molecule to molecule (like the electrons of a metal; that is what allows the electrical and heat conductivity. Core: At the centre of the planet is a molten rock, which is many times bigger and more massive than the entire Earth. It is 20,000*C, about three times hotter than the Earth's core. Internal Heat: Jupiter is a heat source; it radiates 1.6 times as much energy as it receives from the sun. Magnetic Field: Jupiter has a very strong magnetic field. The magnetic field is probably generated as the planet spins its deep metallic-hydrogen layer with electrical currents. Spacecraft Visits: Jupiter was first visited by NASA's Pioneer 10, which flew by Jupiter in 1973. Later fly-by visits included: Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Ulysses, and Galileo.