JJupiterupiter

ByBy

DavidDavid

http://lexikon.astronomie.info/jupiter/img/im-jupiter.jpg

An Introduction to JupiterAn Introduction to Jupiter

• It’s largest planet in our solar system

• It lies in the outer solar system

• It’s the first planet after the asteroid belt, which separates terrestrial and Jovian planets

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The SurfaceThe Surface

• It’s a Jovian planet

• A gas giant

• It has no solid surface

• Jupiter is 82% hydrogen and17% helium

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/jupiter/jupiter-v1_640x542.jpg

The Surface continued...The Surface continued...• The interior is most likely made up of a small

metallic core surrounded by liquid hydrogen• Currents in the liquid hydrogen cause a strong

magnetic field, which shields Jupiter from the solar winds

• The interior is still cooling since its formation and gives off thermal heat

• The interior is about 25 000 Kelvins, but the surface is only about 110 K (-160º C)

• It’s pressure is as great as three million times the sea-level pressure on Earth www.spacedaily.com/ news/jupiter-clouds-01a.html

JupiterJupiter VS VS EarthEarth

The AtmosphereThe Atmosphere

• Instead of a surface it has a dense atmosphere that consists of a layer of colourful clouds 100km thick

• Clouds are bands of colour parallel to the equator

• The bands of cloud rotate at great speeds around the planet

• They rotate at different speeds than the planet and each other

• They rotate in different directions• Two bands travelling in opposite

directions can create whirlwind storms

http://lexikon.astronomie.info/jupiter/img/im-jupiter.jpg

The Great Red SpotThe Great Red Spot• Jupiter's most striking

feature is the Great Red Spot. Sky watchers have known about it for more than 300 years.

• The Great Red Spot is an oval shaped storm that whirls at a speed of 400km per hourhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery.cfm?Category=Spacecraft&Page=6

• This storm is like a hurricane but much bigger; 25,000km across and is as big as almost 3 Earths

• The colours are caused by chemical reactions in the clouds

• Colours range from white to dark reddish brown

Jupiter FactsJupiter Facts

Length of one rotation on it’s axis• 9hrs 55min

Length of one orbital period (rotation around the sun)

• 11.86 yrs

Distance from the sun• 778.3 million km.

Equatorial diameter• 142,980 km.

http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/missions/sts-097/kid_jupiter.asp

Jupiter’s MoonsJupiter’s Moons

• Jupiter has 16 moons• Galileo discovered 4

moons (Galilean satellites) in 1610.

• These were the first satellites found orbiting another planet

• These moons were first seen in detail by the Voyager space probe in 1979

http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov/feature/jupiter.jpg

The Galilean SatellitesThe Galilean Satellites

Io• closest to Jupiter• volcanic vents eject molten

sulphur• low gravity and thin atmosphere

cause eruptions hundreds of kilometers above the surface

Ganymede• larger than mercury• largest satellite in the solar

system• dark in colour, icy and heavily

crateredhttp://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast05may99_1.htm

The Galilean Satellites The Galilean Satellites cont…cont…Europa

• smooth tan coloured surface• no mountains or craters• young surface• appears to be a layer frozen water with a

lot of cracks• Europa is slightly smaller than our moon

Callisto• one of the objects in our solar system

that has the greatest amount of craters• approximately the same size as our

moon.

www.photovault.com/.../ UPJV01P01_18jupmoon.html

http://www.photovault.com/Link/Universe/Planets/Jupiter/UPJVolume01/UPJV01P01_18jupmoon.html

• All of the moons can be seen from Earth by telescope or binoculars

• They rotate rapidly around Jupiter

A Person’s Weight on A Person’s Weight on JupiterJupiter

• Multiply your weight (kilos or pounds) by 2.34

• 45kg on Earth = 105.3 kg on Jupiter

• 100 pounds on Earth = 234 pounds

www.enterprisemission.com/ europa.html

Life on JupiterLife on Jupiter

Jupiter DOES NOT support life.

• No solid surface

• High pressure– strong gravity

• Strong winds– 360km/hr to 1600 km/h

• Extreme cold temperature– -168 C to 0 C– where the temperature is 0 C, the pressure is about the

same as if you were a few kilometers below the sea on Earth

– The air of Jupiter is well below freezing

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Life/J_environment.html

More Reasons Why…More Reasons Why…• There are three known cloud decks in the

atmosphere– They contain ammonia, ammonia

combined with sulphur, and water– We couldn’t breathe in this

atmosphere

• There are high levels of radiation– The radiation belts close to Jupiter

create one of the harshest radiation environments in the Solar System

• We would also be exposed to lightening, and ultraviolet light

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/jupiter/jupiter_022702_3_caption.html

Interesting FactsInteresting Facts• the Jovian planets are at a much greater

distance from each other than the terrestrialplanets

• Jupiter is over 11 times the diameter of Earth• Jupiter has a mass 2.5 times greater than all the

other planets put together• If Jupiter were a container, 1400 Earth's could fit

inside• Jupiter is sometimes called a "fake star"

because its chemical composition is a lot like the Sun's

• It radiates more energy into space than it gets from the Sun

www.spacedaily.com/ news/jupiter-clouds-01a.html

More Interesting FactsMore Interesting Facts

• 4 spacecraft have visited Jupiter

• 2 fly-bys by Pioneer in 1974 and 2 by Voyager in 1979

• These probes gathered important information about Jupiter and its clouds

• They discovered that Jupiter has a thin and delicate ring structure that is not visible from Earth

www.planetary.org/ voyager25/images-moons.html

Jupiter’s RingsJupiter’s Rings

www.exn.ca/Stories/ 1998/09/15/61.asp

More About the RingsMore About the Rings

www2.jpl.nasa.gov/ galileo/moons/rings.html

SomethingSomething REALLYREALLY Cool!!!Cool!!!

• I am 11 years old on Earth

• I would be less than 1 year old, but almost 1 on Jupiter

www.morgenster.org/ foto.htm

ConclusionConclusion

• Jupiter is a very very cool planet. Although we could never live there, its characteristics are very interesting. These include its rings, it’s phenomenal size, it’s a gas giant and could even be called a fake star because it’s a lot like the sun. With all of its moons, it’s sometimes called its own mini-solar system.

• I hope you have enjoyed my presentation.

BibliographyBibliography

“The Solar System Webquest.” 5 June 2005 <http://www.cgs.conway.ma.us/solar.htm>

“CSA – Jupiter.” 4 June 2005 <http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/missions/sts-097/kid_jupiter.asp>

“CSA Astronomy 1 - Module 4: The Planets.” 5 June 2005 <http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/educators/resources/astronomy/module4/overview.asp>

“Can there be Life in the Environment of Jupiter?” 5 June 2005 <http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Life/J_environment.html>