The King of Planets
Jupiter is the first of the gas giants and the fifth planet from the
Sun. It is the largest of all planets. In fact, more than a thousand
Earths could fit inside it!
Volcanic moon
Io, one of the four largest moons, lies
very close to Jupiter. There is a great deal
of pressure on this small moon, since it is
constantly being pulled by the gravity of
Jupiter and the other large moons. This
tug of war generates a lot of heat, so Io
is covered with active volcanoes.
Q How did Jupiter get its name?
A The planet is named after the king of
the Roman gods. It is indeed the king of the
planets, not just because of its massive size,
but also because it rotates the fastest. It is the
fourth brightest object in the sky, after the
Sun, the Moon and Venus.
Q How many moons does Jupiter have?
A Jupiter has more than 60 moons. Galileo
Galilei, the famous Italian astronomer, saw
the four largest moons of Jupiter in 1610.
They were named Io, Europa, Callisto and
Ganymede. By the 1970s nine more moons
were discovered and today we know of 63.
Q What is the
Great Red Spot?
A Jupiter is a
planet of storms. The
biggest storm area is
called the Great Red Spot.
It has been raging for at least
340 years. It is so big that
it can be seen from the
Earth through a telescope.
Q How many explorations have been made
to Jupiter?
A Many explorations have been made to
the king of planets. Pioneer 11 took the first
close-up images in 1974, studied the
atmosphere and detected Jupiter’s magnetic
field. Space probe Galileo, launched in 1989,
orbited Jupiter. In 2000, the Cassini probe
took the best ever photos.
Planet spotter
The Galileo space probe was the first to make an entire
orbit around Jupiter.
Giant ball of gas
There are constant storms
on Jupiter, during which
the winds can roar five
times faster than the
fastest hurricane on Earth.
Some of the big storms are
seen here in brown.
Great Red Spot
Try these too…
The Sun (10–11),
The Planets (12–13),
The Last Planets (18),
The Moon (20–21),
Comets and Asteroids
(22–23), Scientific
Revolution (150–151),
Communication and
Satellites (192–193)
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