Some interesting facts about Jupiter.
New Facts On Jupiter
Despite all we have learned about Jupiter and the early history of our solar system, there are some basic things we don’t understand very well. We don’t know how much oxygen the planet holds, and this happens to be the most important missing piece in our understanding of how our solar system formed. Some theories about
Jupiter’s formation predict that the planet’s oxygen weighs as much as 20 Earths! We also don’t know if the planet has a solid core, or precisely how and where its powerful magnetic field is produced. Further, it is unknown how deeply rooted Jupiter’s colorful, banded
Early science results from NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter portray the largest planet in our solar system as a complex, gigantic, turbulent world, with Earth-sized polar cyclones, plunging storm systems that travel deep into the heart of the gas giant, and a mammoth, lumpy magnetic field that may indicate it was generated closer to the planet's surface than previously thought.Among the findings that challenge assumptions are those provided by Juno's imager, JunoCam. The images show both of Jupiter's poles are covered in Earth-sized swirling storms that are densely clustered and rubbing together.Another surprise comes from Juno's Microwave Radiometer (MWR), which samples the thermal microwave radiation from Jupiter's atmosphere, from the top of the ammonia clouds to deep within its atmosphere. The MWR data indicates that Jupiter's iconic belts and zones are mysterious, with the belt near the equator penetrating all the way down, while the belts and zones at other latitudes seem to evolve to other structures. The data suggest the ammonia is quite variable and continues to increase as far down as we can see with MWR, which is a few hundred miles or kilometers.
clouds and planet-sized spots are. And scientists yearn to understand what powers the auroras — Jupiter’s northern and southern lights. These mysteries make it clear that although Jupiter’s colorful clouds get most of the attention, some of the most enticing mysteries are hiding deep inside the planet.
It 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. Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants; the other two giant planets, Uranus and Neptune are ice giants. Jupiter has been known to astronomers since antiquity.The Romans named it after their god Jupiter.When viewed from Earth, Jupiter can reach an apparent magnitude of −2.94, bright enough for its reflected light to cast shadows,and making it on average the third-brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus.Early science results from NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter portray the largest planet in our solar system as a complex, gigantic, turbulent world, with Earth-sized polar cyclones, plunging storm systems that travel deep into the heart of the gas giant, and a mammoth, lumpy magnetic field that may indicate it was generated closer to the planet's surface than previously thought.Among the findings that challenge assumptions are those provided by Juno's imager, JunoCam. The images show both of Jupiter's poles are covered in Earth-sized swirling storms that are densely clustered and rubbing together.Another surprise comes from Juno's Microwave Radiometer (MWR), which samples the thermal microwave radiation from Jupiter's atmosphere, from the top of the ammonia clouds to deep within its atmosphere. The MWR data indicates that Jupiter's iconic belts and zones are mysterious, with the belt near the equator penetrating all the way down, while the belts and zones at other latitudes seem to evolve to other structures. The data suggest the ammonia is quite variable and continues to increase as far down as we can see with MWR, which is a few hundred miles or kilometers.
Comments
Post a Comment