Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, is a lifesaver for us. Jupiter contains a massive size that pulls many comets and asteroids coming towards Earth. There are many amazing facts to grasp about Jupiter. Let's explore the 12 most significant and interesting facts about the planet.
1. Except for the Sun, Jupiter dominates all the objects in the Solar System, both in mass and in size.
Jupiter's mass is more than two and a half times the mass of all the other planets of the solar system combined. Jupiter has such an oversized volume that about 1,300 Earths can fit inside it.
2. Jupiter is a gaseous planet and hence it has no solid surface.
Like Earth and other inner planets, you can not stand on the surface of Jupiter because Jupiter's surface is a worldwide ocean of helium and hydrogen gases.
3. The Great Red Spot on Jupiter has been raging for over 300 years and will soon disappear.
The great red spot is a spiraling collection of clouds with wind speeds that reaches up to 400 miles per hour. It's been there for the last 300 years and according to scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), it may disappear in the next 20 years.
4. Jupiter has the second largest number of moons after Saturn.
After the discovery of 20 new moons around Saturn in 2019, Jupiter comes down to the second number in terms of having most moons. Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede is the largest moon of our solar system. It is even larger than the planet Mercury.
5. Jupiter's four largest moons were discovered by Galileo Galilei back in 1610.
The four largest moons of Jupiter; Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa were the first moons to be discovered around any other planet. These four moons are also known as The Galilean Moons.
6. Jupiter influence the sizes of the other planets and moons of the solar system.
Jupiter was the first planet to form, so it attracted most of the asteroids and comets onto its own surface, which would have increased the sizes of the other planets.
7. Jupiter protects Earth.
Jupiter has a massive gravity that attracts comets and asteroids onto Jupiter's own surface, preventing them from crashing onto inner planets like Earth.
8. More than a half dozens of spacecraft have visited Jupiter.
This includes Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 2, Voyager 1, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini, and Juno.
9. Jupiter has the shortest day among all the other planets of the solar system.
The short days of Jupiter is because of its fast rotation on its axis. Jupiter has the fastest rotation compared to the other planets. It takes just 9 hr and 55 mins to complete one rotation on its axis.
10. Jupiter has rings too.
All the gaseous planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune) have a ring system. But, unlike Saturn, their ring system is faint.
1 1. Jupiter is the third brightest object in the night sky after Moon and Venus.
Jupiter's large size and its reflective clouds are responsible for its brightness in the sky. On the other hand, Jupiter is much closer to stars.
12. After Sun, Jupiter has the strongest and biggest magnetic field in our solar system.
Jupiter has about 14 times stronger magnetic field than Earth and it stretches about 12 million miles from east to west, almost 15 times the width of the Sun.