Zoe Starr
Mr. Eric Smith
Astronomy H
22 May 2018
Jupiter and its Galilean Moons
Jupiter, the fifth planet from our sun, is the most massive planet in our solar system, twice as massive as all the other planets comined. It is a gas giant planet and therefore lacks a earth like surface. Due to the giant atmosphere of gas, Jupiter rotates faster than any other planet. Jupiter’s day is only about ten hours long. Jupiter takes twelve Earth years to make one revolution around the sun so, one revolution around the sun is equal to twelve years on Earth. Primarily it is made up of Hydrogen and Helium similar to the sun. In addition, the core temperature of Jupiter is around 43,000 degrees Fahrenheit, a lot hotter than the surface of the sun. Interestingly enough, if it had been about 80 times more massive, it would have actually become a star instead of a planet. This planet is characterized by thick red, brown, yellow, and white clouds. It is renowned for its Great Red Spot, a giant spinning storm resembling a hurricane. The diameter of the storm itself is three and a half times bigger than the diameter of …show more content…
Combined, the 69 moons of various composition orbit the planet. The most interesting of the moons are the first four moons discovered beyond Earth, the Galilean Moons. Jupiter’s four largest moons are called the Galilean moons named after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei who first observed them in 1610. The moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto and their names come from the lovers of Zeus. Ganymede, Io, and Europa are all in orbital resonance with Jupiter. In the same time it take Ganymede to complete one orbit around Jupiter, it take Io four orbits to complete a trip and Europa two orbits. Sometimes, they will line up in a straight line causing gravitational tugs on each others orbit and therefore stretching their orbits into elliptical
Mr. Eric Smith
Astronomy H
22 May 2018
Jupiter and its Galilean Moons
Jupiter, the fifth planet from our sun, is the most massive planet in our solar system, twice as massive as all the other planets comined. It is a gas giant planet and therefore lacks a earth like surface. Due to the giant atmosphere of gas, Jupiter rotates faster than any other planet. Jupiter’s day is only about ten hours long. Jupiter takes twelve Earth years to make one revolution around the sun so, one revolution around the sun is equal to twelve years on Earth. Primarily it is made up of Hydrogen and Helium similar to the sun. In addition, the core temperature of Jupiter is around 43,000 degrees Fahrenheit, a lot hotter than the surface of the sun. Interestingly enough, if it had been about 80 times more massive, it would have actually become a star instead of a planet. This planet is characterized by thick red, brown, yellow, and white clouds. It is renowned for its Great Red Spot, a giant spinning storm resembling a hurricane. The diameter of the storm itself is three and a half times bigger than the diameter of …show more content…
Combined, the 69 moons of various composition orbit the planet. The most interesting of the moons are the first four moons discovered beyond Earth, the Galilean Moons. Jupiter’s four largest moons are called the Galilean moons named after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei who first observed them in 1610. The moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto and their names come from the lovers of Zeus. Ganymede, Io, and Europa are all in orbital resonance with Jupiter. In the same time it take Ganymede to complete one orbit around Jupiter, it take Io four orbits to complete a trip and Europa two orbits. Sometimes, they will line up in a straight line causing gravitational tugs on each others orbit and therefore stretching their orbits into elliptical