- Distance
- 5.2 AU
- Diameter
- 139,820 km
- Year
- 11.9 years
- Day
- 9 h 56 m
- Moons
- 95+
About Jupiter
Jupiter is a gas giant made mostly of hydrogen and helium, with no solid surface. Its rapidly rotating atmosphere is drawn into coloured bands and the Great Red Spot, an anticyclone wider than Earth. Deep inside, hydrogen is squeezed into a liquid metallic state that powers the strongest planetary magnetic field in the Solar System. Jupiter has at least 95 moons. The four largest, discovered by Galileo in 1610, are worlds in their own right: volcanic Io, icy Europa with a subsurface ocean, giant Ganymede, and cratered Callisto. Jupiter also has a faint ring system.
- Could hold 1,300 Earths
- Shortest day of any planet
- Europa is a prime target in the search for life
Moons
| Name | Diameter | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Io | 3,643 km | The most volcanically active world in the Solar System. Tidal squeezing by Jupiter keeps its interior molten, and hundreds of volcanoes spray sulphur across its yellow-orange surface. |
 | Europa | 3,122 km | A smooth ice shell hiding a salty ocean with more water than all of Earth's oceans. A leading candidate for life beyond Earth; NASA's Europa Clipper arrives in 2030. |
 | Ganymede | 5,268 km | The largest moon in the Solar System, bigger than Mercury, and the only moon with its own magnetic field. It also has a buried ocean. |
 | Callisto | 4,821 km | An ancient, heavily cratered world whose surface has barely changed in 4 billion years. Its orbit lies outside Jupiter's worst radiation. |
In pictures
