Known Space -- Sol -- | Jupiter |
Next out from the Sun after the asteroids is Jupiter, the king of the planets. Jupiter is the largest and most massive of all the planets with a mass about two and a half times the mass of all the other planets of the Solar system combined!
Jupiter is a "gas giant", a great ball of hydrogen and helium. Some people refer to it as a star that failed - it does radiate twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun (mostly in the infra-red). Jupiter has a relatively small, rocky core composed of iron and silicates, with a temperature of 20,000 degrees C. Around this out to about 46,000 km from the center is a 'sea' of liquid metallic hydrogen (cooling to 11,000 degrees C and 3,000,000 atm). Over this lies an upper 'sea' of liquid molecular hydrogen, and on top of this lies the 1,000 km thick 'atmosphere'.
The colorful bands of Jupiter are from a churning cloud layer (about 150 km thick) composed of ammonia crystals, ammonium hydrosulfide crystals, and water and ice droplets. These clouds are constantly being ripped apart by jet winds of super-hurricane strength. It has been likened to a boiling kettle of colored dyes that cannot be made to blend. The most distinctive feature is the Great Red Spot, a 40,000 km wide super-hurricane that has been going for hundreds of years.
Like the Earth, Jupiter has a magnetic field but (as expected) it is far more intense. The magnetic field extends out some 21.5 million km and is 10,000 times stronger than the Earth's. Anyone passing through the radiation belt (at about 200,000 km out from Jupiter) can expect to take 250,000 rads (500 times the lethal dosage). The movement of the moon Io through this magnetic field generates a current of 5 million ampares (a 100 watt light bulb has a current of 1 ampare). This electrical current is slowly eroding Io away. Gasses from Io's volcanoes break up into charged particles, along with surface matter, to form a growing invisible doughnut-shaped electrical cloud around the planet.
Jupiter is not a peaceful planet.
Orbital Distance: 4.951 AU - 5.455 AU (average 5.203 AU) Eccentricity: 0.048 Local Year: 4,332.59 days (11.86 years) Orbital Velocity: 13.06 km/s (average) Inclination: 1.304° Local Day: 0.414 day (9h 55m 41s) Axial Tilt: 3.067° Diameter: 143,884 km (cloud tops) Composition: n/a Density: 1.33 g/cm3 Mass: 1.90 x 1021 tonnes (317.89 earths) Gravity: 2.64 G Escape Velocity: 60.22 km/s Area: 65,039 million km2 Surface Material: n/a Atmosphere: Hydrogen, helium, ammonia, and methane Pressure: Up to 3,000,000 atm Albedo: 0.43 Temperature: -130°C (cloud tops) |
Satellite Distance Month Day Diameter Metis 127,960 km 0.295 d 0.295 d 0.003 Adrastea 128,980 km 0.298 d 0.298 d 0.002 Amalthea 181,300 km 0.498 d 0.498 d 0.014 Thebe 221,900 km 0.675 d 0.675 d 0.008 Io 421,600 km 1.769 d 1.770 d 0.286 Europa 670,900 km 3.551 d 3.554 d 0.245 Ganymede 1,070,000 km 7.155 d 7.166 d 0.413 Callisto 1,880,000 km 16.689 d 16.754 d 0.377 Leda 11,094,000 km 238.700 d 254.000 d 0.001 Himalia 11,480,000 km 250.600 d 266.000 d 0.013 Lysithea 11,720,000 km 259.200 d 276.000 d 0.002 Elara 11,737,000 km 259.700 d 276.000 d 0.006 Ananke 21,200,000 km 631.000 d 551.000 d 0.002 Carme 22,600,000 km 692.000 d 597.000 d 0.002 Pasiphae 23,500,000 km 735.000 d 635.000 d 0.003 Sinope 23,700,000 km 758.000 d 645.000 d 0.002 |
Ring Distance from Jupiter Width Thickness Halo 100,000 km - 122,800 km 22,800 km 20,000 km Main 122,800 km - 129,200 km 6,400 km 30 km Gossamer 129,200 km - 214,200 km 850,000 km ? |