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We use telescopes to
collect lots of light and
focus it onto detectors
using mirrors or lenses.
Large modern telescopes,
like the Keck Telescope
shown below, can collect
6,000,000 times as much
light as the human eye.
Keck Telescope
Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. So much so that you could fit all the other planets inside it at the same time and still have room left!
It is a Gas Giant planet, just like Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. This means that is does not have a solid surface, but is a huge ball of gas - mostly hydrogen (75%) and helium (24%). What we see is just the tops of the highest clouds.
If you look carefully at the rotating image, you may just spot the famous Red Spot going around. This is a single giant storm that was first seen over 300 years ago and still going strong. The storm is around 3 times the size of Earth.
Jupiter is known to have at least 64 moons. The largest four (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto) were discovered in 1610 by Galileo.
Since the first visit of a spacecraft (Pioneer 10) in 1973, Jupiter has been visited by a total of nine missions.
| Facts and Figures | Mercury | Venus | Earth | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune |
| Orbital Distance (AU)1 | 0.38 | 0.72 | 1.0 | 1.52 | 5.2 | 9.45 | 19.2 | 30.06 |
| Radius (KM) | 2,440 | 6,052 | 6,378 | 3,397 | 71,492 | 60,268 | 25,559 | 24,746 |
| Mass (Earth Masses)2 | 0.055 | 0.82 | 1.0 | 0.11 | 318 | 95.2 | 14.5 | 17.1 |
| Year Length (Earth Days) | 88 | 225 | 365.25 | 687 | 11.9 Years |
29.45 Years | 84.0 Years | 164.8 Years |
| Day Length (Earth Days) | 176 | 117 | 1.0 | 1.03 | 0.41 | 0.43 | 0.75 | 0.67 |
| Surface Gravity (g)3 | 0.38 | 0.91 | 1.0 | 0.38 | 2.34 | 0.93 | 0.92 | 1.12 |
| Surface Temperature | -200 to 400 °C | 460 °C | -80 to 50 °C | -150 to 20 °C | -110 °C | -140 °C | -190 °C | -200 °C |
| Number of moons | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 63 | 60 | 27 | 13 |
