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Jupiter orbits the Sun at a distance of 778.3 million kilometres. It
takes 12 years to complete one of these orbits. It is the definitive
jovian planet a giant ball of gas with a diameter of 142,800 km. The
other jovian planets (jupiter-like) are Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Jupiter has many moons. The four largest were discovered by Galileo
Galilei and are called the Galilean Moons. They are each about the same
size as Earth's Moon and are called Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede.
You can see them quite clearly in a small telescope. You may also see
Jupiter's Great Red Spot which is a gigantic storm raging in Jupiter's
atmosphere, big enough to swallow the whole Earth. |
