Our Solar System - Jupiter
Jupiter is the fith planet from the Sun and is the largest in our solar system. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our solar system combined.
Jupiter, along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, is classified as a gas giant. Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a small proportion of helium. Because of its rapid rotation, Jupiter's shape is that of an oblate spheroid (it possesses a slight but noticeable bulge around the equator). The outer atmosphere is visibly split into several bands at different latitudes, resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries. A prominent result is the Great Red Spot, a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the seventeenth century. Surrounding the planet is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere. There are also at least 63 moons, including the four large moons called the Galilean moons that were first discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Ganymede, the largest of these moons, has a diameter greater than that of the planet Mercury. Jupiter is a very important planet as it is Earth's protector. Any rocks, metorites or debris that comes towards the earth gets destroyed as it hits Jupiter.
Back
