Why is jupiter called jupiter

It is the biggest planet in the Solar System. Compared to Earth, it has more than 11 times its diameter. Around 1. In comparison to Mercury, the smallest planet in the Solar System, it is more than 29 times its diameter. More than Venus is similar to Earth in size, it has less than Mars, on the other hand, has less than 20 times the diameter of Jupiter.

Jupiter has around 2. In comparison to Saturn, it has 1. Though Jupiter is 2. More mass will make the planet more dense, and this would cause it to start pulling it in on itself. That is the mechanism of how stars generate energy, by fusing hydrogen under extreme heat and pressure to create helium, releasing light and heat in the process.

This means that Jupiter has no way of becoming a star unless it would gain around 75 times more mass than it currently has. Since it is the most massive planet in the Solar System, it is the closest to being a star, at least in terms of mass. Because of this mass, Jupiter generates high amounts of heat as it shrinks under gravity.

It is unknown when Jupiter will stop shrinking. The winds on Jupiter are very powerful. Each of these bands has a slightly different chemical make-up and temperature. Because of this, some of the bands have different colors. These clouds are different in color, depending on the altitude. Classified as a giant planet alongside Neptune, Saturn, and Uranus, Jupiter has a mass that is more than twice that of all other planets in the Solar System combined.

As a giant planet that is easily visible from Earth with the naked eye, astronomers first identified Jupiter in ancient times. Additionally, the visibility of Jupiter is increased by the fact that it is the fourth-brightest natural object in the sky, after the Sun, the Moon, and Venus.

In fact, the planet can sometimes even be seen during the day if the Sun is low. Jupiter has a ring system as well as a magnetosphere. Unlike Earth, which has only one moon, Jupiter has a whopping 79 moons, the largest being Ganymede, which has a larger diameter larger than that of Mercury. It balloons , to 2 million miles 1 to 3 million kilometers toward the Sun seven to 21 times the diameter of Jupiter itself and tapers into a tadpole-shaped tail extending more than million miles 1 billion kilometers behind Jupiter, as far as Saturn's orbit.

Jupiter's enormous magnetic field is 16 to 54 times as powerful as that of the Earth. It rotates with the planet and sweeps up particles that have an electric charge. Near the planet, the magnetic field traps swarms of charged particles and accelerates them to very high energies, creating intense radiation that bombards the innermost moons and can damage spacecraft. Jupiter's magnetic field also causes some of the solar system's most spectacular aurorae at the planet's poles. Introduction Jupiter is the fifth planet from our Sun and is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system — more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined.

A 3D model of Jupiter, a gas giant planet. Mocha Swirls in Jupiter's Turbulent Atmosphere. This page showcases our resources for those interested in learning more about Jupiter. Jupiter Resources. JPL's lucky peanuts are an unofficial tradition at big mission events.

Full Moon Guide: October - November A new paper details how the hydrological cycle of the now-dry lake at Jezero Crater is more complicated than originally thought.

Winds in the outermost "lane" of Jupiter's Great Red Spot are accelerating — a discovery made possible by Hubble. Researchers will use Webb to observe 17 actively forming planetary systems. This year, the minimum extent of Arctic sea ice dropped to 1. The lander cleared enough dust from one solar panel to keep its seismometer on through the summer, allowing scientists to study three big quakes.

Scientists found evidence that an area on Mars called Arabia Terra had thousands of "super eruptions" over a million-year period. Full Moon Guide: September - October Perseverance successfully collected its first pair of rock samples, and scientists already are gaining new insights into the region. Data received late Sept. The rover will abrade a rock this week, allowing scientists and engineers to decide whether that target would withstand its powerful drill. Drought is a complicated problem that requires lots of data.

Jupiter broadcasts radio waves strong enough to detect on Earth. These come in two forms — strong bursts that occur when Io, the closest of Jupiter's large moons, passes through certain regions of Jupiter's magnetic field, and continuous radiation from Jupiter's surface and high-energy particles in its radiation belts.

Average distance from the sun : ,, miles ,, km. By comparison: 5. Perihelion closest approach to the sun : ,, miles ,, km. Aphelion farthest distance from the sun : ,, miles ,, km. With four large moons and many smaller moons in orbit around it, Jupiter by itself forms a kind of miniature solar system.

Jupiter has 79 known moons, which are mostly named after the paramours of Roman gods. Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, and is larger than Mercury and Pluto. It is also the only moon known to have its own magnetic field. The moon has at least one ocean between layers of ice, although it may contain several layers of both ice and water, stacked on top of one another. Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. The sulfur its volcanoes spew gives Io a blotted yellow-orange appearance that looks kind of like a pepperoni pizza.

As Io orbits Jupiter, the planet's immense gravity causes "tides" in Io's solid surface that rise feet meters high and generate enough heat for volcanic activity.

The frozen crust of Europa is made up mostly of water ice, and it may hide a liquid ocean that contains twice as much water as Earth does. Some of this liquid spouts from the surface in newly spotted sporadic plumes at Europa's southern pole. NASA's Europa Clipper mission , a planned spacecraft that would launch in the s to explore the icy moon, is now in phase B the design stage.

It would perform 40 to 45 flybys to examine the habitability of the moon.