Interesting facts about Jupiter are most similar to the list of records. In many respects, the gas giant is ahead of the rest of the planets of the solar system, thus fully justifying its proud name as a thunder god.
Fifth from the sun
We will begin to present interesting facts about the planet Jupiter with information about the location of the giant in our piece of the galaxy. This is really worth a look. Jupiter takes fifth place in terms of distance from the Sun. The planet is separated from the star by 5.2 light years. The giant’s neighbors are Saturn and the Main asteroid belt, with which Jupiter, we can say, is in close relationship. The gas giant constantly affects the bodies located in this area, regulating changes in their orbits.
Really huge
The ability to interfere with the activity of asteroids arises due to the incredibly large mass of Jupiter. According to this parameter, it is 318 times ahead of the earth. However, the most interesting thing about Jupiter in this regard is that by mass it exceeds all the planets of the solar system taken together by 2.5 times. Such dimensions in the ranking of space objects put it on the step, only slightly reaching the level of stars. According to scientists, if Jupiter was even 60 times more massive, it could become a night star as a result of a spontaneous thermonuclear reaction.
Structure
It is impossible to imagine interesting facts about Jupiter without mentioning the features of its composition. The planet belongs to the group of gas giants and actually has no surface. Scientists currently do not have accurate data on the internal structure of Jupiter, however, information already obtained as a result of observations from the Earth and spacecraft research has allowed astrophysicists to formulate a hypothesis on this subject. In accordance with it, in the center of the giant is a very dense core, compressed under tremendous pressure of 30-100 million atmospheres. In size, it is approximately 1.5 times the size of the Earth.
The core is supposedly composed of rocky structures, helium and metallic hydrogen. In such an unusual state, the most common substance of the Universe passes under the influence of high pressure and high temperatures. At a depth of one hundred kilometers, hydrogen, somewhat less affected by these factors, exists in a liquid state and forms an entire ocean.
Atmosphere
A lot of interesting facts about the planet Jupiter are associated with the air envelope surrounding it, or, more precisely, constituting the essence of the giant. The main substance in the atmosphere is hydrogen (89%), followed by helium at a concentration level of 11%. Also, methane, ammonia, water vapor, and acetylene are found in small amounts here.
In the photo, Jupiter cannot be confused with anything precisely because of the characteristic pattern of the atmosphere. Clouds, painted in yellow, red, blue and white, line up along the equator of the gas giant. Winds blowing on the planet with an average speed of 500 km / h, contribute to the formation of the Northern and Southern equatorial belts, for the observer looking like brown stripes with swirls.
One of these formations, called the Great Red Spot, has become almost the hallmark of the planet. Interesting facts about Jupiter, discovered by scientists, contain information that it was discovered about 350 years ago and since then has practically not changed its location or size. According to researchers, the Big Red Spot is a hurricane in the planet’s atmosphere, rotating at a speed of 300 km / h. Its size is simply amazing: 12x48 thousand kilometers.
Weather
Interesting facts about Jupiter can be supplemented with information about the numerous storms characteristic of the planet. Some of them last for days, while others rage for months. Almost always, storms are accompanied by lightning, which in its power exceeds earthly ones by at least a thousand times. At the same time, there is no change of seasons on Jupiter due to the location of the equator in the ecliptic plane.
A magnetic field
The most interesting facts about Jupiter are inexplicable and mysterious. For example, the planet’s magnetic field is 14 times larger than the Earth’s and even reaches Saturn’s orbit, extending over 650 million kilometers. At the same time, the field surrounds the planet unevenly: in the direction opposite to the Sun, it stretches forty times further.
It is believed that the source of such a strong magnetic field that can damage any device that comes too close is the hypothetical metallic hydrogen of the nucleus, the structural features of which allow the substance to conduct electricity. However, so far this information remains only hypotheses.
Satellites
The amazing facts about the planet Jupiter do not end there. The gas giant is ahead of all the planets of the solar system and in the number of satellites. To date, 63 of them are known. At the same time, an impressive part of them are relatively small objects with a diameter of about ten kilometers.
The largest satellite of Jupiter, Ganymede, is larger in size than Mercury. It is covered with a thick ice cap, under which there may supposedly be water.
Another major satellite of Jupiter, Io, is interesting in that active volcanoes are located on its surface.
Enough large compared to most objects from the Jupiter Formation, Europe is also supposedly covered in ice and hides the ocean on its surface.
The fourth most impressive companion is Calisto. It is considered the most ancient in the solar system.
Jupiter, therefore, is far from an ordinary planet in our piece of the galaxy. This is noticeable even when looking at the night sky: the giant is the third brightest object after the Moon and Venus, it is even easier to detect it than Sirius.
These facts are not a complete list of the features of Jupiter. Moreover, studies of the gas giant, as well as other planets of the solar system, are ongoing, which means that the presented list of interesting information in the near future may be replenished with even more points.