Jupiter

Jupiter(seembol:;forbye cawedJubiter) is the fiftplanetfrae theSunan thelairgestplanet in theSolar System.It is agas giantwi amassae-thoosandt that o the Sun but is twa-an-a-hauf times the mass o aw the ither planets in the Solar System pitten thegither. Jupiter is clessifee'd as a gas giant alang wiSaturn,UranusanNeptune.Thegither, thir fower planets is whiles referred tae as theJovianor ooter planets. The planet wis kent biastronomerso auncient times,an wis associate wi the meethology an religious beliefs o mony culturs. TheRomansnamed the planet efter theRoman godJupiter.Whan viewed frae theYird,Jupiter can reach anapparent magnitudeo −2.94, bricht eneuch tae cast shaidaes,an makkin it on average the third-brichtest object in thenicht liftefter theMuinanVenus.(Maurscan briefly match Jupiter's brichtness atcertaint pyntsin its orbit.)

Jupiter is componed maistly ohydrogenwi a quarter o its mass beinhelium,awtho helium only comprises aboot a tent o the nummer o molecules. It micht an aa hae a rocky core o hivier elements,but lik the ither gas giants, Jupiter disna hae a weel-defined solit surface. Acause o its rapid rotation, the planet's shape is that o anoblate spheroid(it haes a slicht but noticeable bulge aroond the equator). The ooter atmosphere is visibly segregatit intae several bands at different latitudes, resultin in turbulence an stairms alang thair interactin boundaries. A prominent result is theGreat Reid Spot,a giant stairm that is kent tae hae existit syne at least the 17t century whan it wis first seen bitelescope.Surroondin Jupiter is a faintplanetar ringsystem an a pouerfulmagnetosphere.Thare are atour at least 67 muins, includin the fower lairge muins cried theGalilean muinsthat wis first discovered biGalileo Galileiin 1610.Ganymede,the lairgest o thir muins, haes a diameter greater than that o the planetMercury.

Jupiter haes been explored on several occasions birobotic spacecraft,maist notably durin the earlyPioneeranVoyagerflyby missions an later bi theGalileo orbiter.The maist recent probe tae visit Jupiter wis thePluto-boondNew Horizonsspacecraft in late Februar 2007. The probeuised the gravityfrae Jupiter tae increase its speed. Futur tairgets for exploration in the Jovian system includes the possible ice-covert liquid ocean on the muinEuropa.