Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and is the biggest planet within our Solar System, and is the first of the Gas Giants, in line from the Sun.
Jupiter together with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the other Gas Giants are sometimes referred to as the Jovian or outer planets. The Roman’s named the planet after the Roman God Jupiter or Jove, the God of sky and thunder, the king of the gods, in ancient Roman religion and myth.
The planet’s atmosphere consists of about 84 percent Hydrogen and around 15 percent helium, with the other one percent being made up of acetylene, ammonia, ethane, methane, phosphine, and water vapour.
Jupiter takes 12 Earth year to complete a single orbit of the Sun, but it rotates so quickly that a day on Jupiter only lasts 9 hours and 55 minutes.
The planet’s large red spot is a storm that has been raging for over 300 years, and Jupiter also has the biggest moon is the Solar System, called Ganymede. The planet also has rings like Saturn and Uranus which are made up of dust, rock ice and gas, and around 63 other smaller moons have been identified within its rings.
Facts about Jupiter
– If you landed on the planet you would weigh 2.64 times heavier than on Earth.
– Jupiter is approximately 466 million miles from the Sun