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10 Things to Know About Jupiter

1: THE GRANDEST PLANET

Eleven Earths could fit across Jupiter’s equator. If Earth were the size of a grape, Jupiter would be the size of a basketball.

2: FIFTH PLANET FROM OUR STAR

Jupiter orbits about 484 million miles (778 million kilometers) or 5.2 Astronomical Units (AU) from our Sun (Earth is one AU from the Sun).

3: SHORT DAY/LONG YEAR

Jupiter rotates once about every 10 hours (a Jovian day), but takes about 12 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun (a Jovian year).

4: WHAT'S INSIDE

Jupiter is a gas giant and so lacks an Earth-like surface. If it has a solid inner core at all, it’s likely only about the size of Earth.

5: MASSIVE WORLD, LIGHT ELEMENTS

Jupiter's atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2) and helium (He).

6: WORLDS GALORE

Jupiter has more than 75 moons.

7: RINGED WORLD

In 1979 the Voyager mission discovered Jupiter’s faint ring system. All four giant planets in our solar system have ring systems.

8: EXPLORING JUPITER

Nine spacecraft have visited Jupiter. Seven flew by and two have orbited the gas giant. Juno, the most recent, arrived at Jupiter in 2016.

9: INGREDIENTS FOR LIFE?

Jupiter cannot support life as we know it. But some of Jupiter's moons have oceans beneath their crusts that might support life.

10: SUPER STORM

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a gigantic storm that’s about twice the size of Earth and has raged for over a century.