Jupiter

Jupiter
Description
Adjectives:	Jovian
Distance from Sun:	778.5 million km
Diameter:	139,822 km
Radius:	69,911 km
Temperature:	101 K
Known Moons	66

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun, but two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined.

Atmosphere

Jupiter is made up predominantly of hydrogen. The simple, basic gas, a prime ingredient on the Sun, accounts for 90% of the atmosphere. Nearly 10 percent is composed of helium. A very small fraction of the atmosphere is made up of compounds such as ammonia, sulfur, methane, and water vapor.

Weather

Jupiter is a very stormy planet. There are storms found throughout the atmosphere, and most of the storms seem to never end. The many different cloud formations and storms in the atmosphere also make Jupiter a very colorful planet.

A wide view of Jupiter and the Great Red Spot as seen from Voyager 1 in 1979

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is where a giant storm has been raging for at least 400 years. This red spot is also called "The Eye of Jupiter" because of its shape. This storm's super hurricane winds blow across an area larger than the Earth.

Moons

Jupiter has 67 known moons, the largest ones being the four Galilean Moons; Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa.