Designations | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pronunciation | /ˈdʒuːpɪtər/ [1] | ||||||||||||
Named after | Jupiter | ||||||||||||
Adjectives | Jovian (/ˈdʒoʊviən/) | ||||||||||||
Symbol | |||||||||||||
Orbital characteristics[2] | |||||||||||||
Epoch J2000 | |||||||||||||
Aphelion | 5.4570 AU (816.363 million km) | ||||||||||||
Perihelion | 4.9506 AU (740.595 million km) | ||||||||||||
5.2038 AU (778.479 million km) | |||||||||||||
Eccentricity | 0.0489 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
398.88 d | |||||||||||||
Average orbital speed | 13.06 km/s | ||||||||||||
20.020°[4] | |||||||||||||
Inclination | |||||||||||||
100.464° | |||||||||||||
January 21, 2023[6] | |||||||||||||
273.867°[4] | |||||||||||||
Known satellites | 95 (as of 2023[update])[7] | ||||||||||||
Physical characteristics[2][8][9] | |||||||||||||
69911 km[b] 10.973 of Earth's | |||||||||||||
Equatorial radius | 71492 km[b] 11.209 R🜨 (of Earth's) 0.10276 R☉ (of Sun's) | ||||||||||||
Polar radius | 66854 km[b] 10.517 of Earth's | ||||||||||||
Flattening | 0.06487 | ||||||||||||
6.1469×1010 km2 120.4 of Earth's | |||||||||||||
Volume | 1.4313×1015 km3[b] 1,321 of Earth's | ||||||||||||
Mass | 1.8982×1027 kg | ||||||||||||
Mean density | 1.326 g/cm3[c] | ||||||||||||
24.79 m/s2 2.528 g0[b][11] | |||||||||||||
0.2756±0.0006[12] | |||||||||||||
59.5 km/s[b] | |||||||||||||
9.9258 h (9 h 55 m 33 s)[3] | |||||||||||||
9.9250 hours (9 h 55 m 30 s) | |||||||||||||
Equatorial rotation velocity | 12.6 km/s | ||||||||||||
3.13° (to orbit) | |||||||||||||
North pole right ascension | 268.057°; 17h 52m 14s[13] | ||||||||||||
North pole declination | 64.495°[13] | ||||||||||||
Albedo | 0.503 (Bond)[14] 0.538 (geometric)[15] | ||||||||||||
Temperature | 88 K (−185 °C) (blackbody temperature) | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
−2.94[16] to −1.66[16] | |||||||||||||
−9.4[17] | |||||||||||||
29.8" to 50.1" | |||||||||||||
Atmosphere[2] | |||||||||||||
Surface pressure | 200–600 kPa (30–90 psi) (opaque cloud deck)[18] | ||||||||||||
27 km (17 mi) | |||||||||||||
Composition by volume | |||||||||||||
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined and slightly less than one-thousandth the mass of the Sun. Its diameter is eleven times that of Earth, and a tenth that of the Sun. Jupiter orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.20 AU (778.5 Gm), with an orbital period of 11.86 years. It is the third brightest natural object in the Earth's night sky, after the Moon and Venus, and has been observed since prehistoric times. Its name derives from that of Jupiter, the chief deity of ancient Roman religion.
Jupiter was the first of the Sun's planets to form, and its inward migration during the primordial phase of the Solar System affected much of the formation history of the other planets. Jupiter's atmosphere consists of 76% hydrogen and 24% helium by mass, with a denser interior. It contains trace elements like carbon, oxygen, sulfur, neon, ammonia, water vapour, phosphine, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrocarbons. Jupiter's helium abundance is 80% of the Sun's, similar to Saturn's composition. The ongoing contraction of Jupiter's interior generates more heat than the planet receives from the Sun. Its internal structure is believed to consist of an outer mantle of fluid metallic hydrogen and a diffuse inner core of denser material. Because of its rapid rate of rotation, one turn in ten hours, Jupiter is an oblate spheroid; it has a slight but noticeable bulge around the equator. The outer atmosphere is divided into a series of latitudinal bands, with turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries; the most obvious result of this is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that has been recorded since 1831.
Jupiter's magnetic field is the strongest and second-largest contiguous structure in the Solar System, generated by eddy currents within the fluid, metallic hydrogen core. The solar wind interacts with the magnetosphere, extending it outward and affecting Jupiter's orbit. The four largest moons orbit within the magnetosphere, protecting them from solar wind. The moon Io emits sulfur dioxide, which forms a gas torus and is ionized in Jupiter's magnetosphere, forming a plasma sheet. This plasma sheet co-rotates with Jupiter, causing the dipole magnetic field to deform into a magnetodisk. The plasma sheet generates strong radio signatures, allowing for the transmission of energy along a cone-shaped surface.
Jupiter is surrounded by a faint system of planetary rings that were discovered in 1979 by Voyager 1 and further investigated by the Galileo orbiter in the 1990s. The Jovian ring system consists mainly of dust and has four main components. The rings have a reddish colour in visible and near-infrared light. The age of the ring system is unknown, possibly dating back to Jupiter's formation.
Jupiter has 95 known moons and probably many more; the four largest moons were discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Ganymede, the largest of the four, is larger than the planet Mercury.
Since 1973, Jupiter has been visited by nine robotic probes: seven flybys and two dedicated orbiters, with two more en route.
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