Jupiter, the giant planet
Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. Just how big is it? It would take more than 1,000 Earths to fill up Jupiter.
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. It has a small, rocky core, but most of it is surrounded by thick clouds of gas. The clouds form coloured bands around the planet. Jupiter also has three thin rings of dust that sometimes look like one.
Wild windstorms are always raging in Jupiter’s thick clouds. But can you imagine a huge hurricane that whirls for 300 years? Scientists believe that a hurricane on Jupiter called the Great Red Spot has been whirling for at least that long. This hurricane is more than three times as wide as Earth!
In 1979, two U.S. probes called Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 flew past Jupiter. The U.S. space probes Cassini and New Horizons also flew by Jupiter, in 2000 and 2007. From 1995 to 2003, the U.S. spacecraft Galileo orbited the planet. In 2003, Galileo sent a probe into Jupiter’s atmosphere.
Picture Credit : Google
