Jupiter

Welcome to my Jupiter page. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. Jupiter's average distance from the sun is about 483,780,000 miles, more than five times Earth's distance. Ancient astronomers named Jupiter after the king of the Roman gods. Jupiter has three thin rings around its equator. They are much fainter than the rings of Saturn. Jupiter's rings appear to consist mostly of fine dust particles. The main ring is about 20 miles thick and more than 4,000 miles wide. It circles the planet inside the orbit of Amalthea. Jupiter has a good history of exploration. The United States has sent six space probes to Jupiter: (1) Pioneer 10, (2) Pioneer-Saturn, (3) Voyager 1, (4) Voyager 2, (5) Ulysses, and (6) Galileo. Pioneer 10 was launched in 1972 and flew within 81,000 miles (130,000 kilometers) of Jupiter on Dec. 3, 1973. The probe revealed the severe effects of Jupiter's radiation belt on spacecraft. Pioneer 10 also reported the amount of hydrogen and helium in the planet's atmosphere. In addition, the probe discovered that Jupiter has an enormous magnetosphere. Pioneer-Saturn flew within 27,000 miles (43,000 kilometers) of Jupiter in December 1974. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 flew past Jupiter in March and July 1979, respectively. These craft carried more sensitive instruments than did the Pioneers, and transmitted much more information. The Voyagers also revealed sulfur volcanoes on Io, discovered lightning in Jupiter's clouds, and mapped flow patterns in the cloud bands. Ulysses was launched in October 1990 and passed by Jupiter in February 1992. The craft released an atmospheric probe in July 1995. In December 1995, the probe plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere. The probe penetrated deep into the cloud layers and measured the amount of water and other chemicals in the atmosphere. Also in December 1995, Galileo went into orbit around Jupiter. Over the next several years, the craft monitored Jupiter's atmosphere and observed the planet's major satellites. Galileo's mission was extended in 1997 and again in 1999. Eventually, however, the craft ran low on fuel.