Juno will determine how much water is in each of these layers. One possible reason is that a combination of lightning and sunlight somehow alters the ice at high altitudes, producing orange and brown hues. Organic compounds — molecules containing carbon — and sulfur compounds are most likely the chemicals that give the clouds their colors. Jupiter is filled with swirling storms that originate in the water-cloud layer — or perhaps even deeper. These storms range in width from kilometers miles to over 1, kilometers miles , generating lightning that flashes times brighter than on Earth.
For example, no one knows how its jet streams remain so stable over time or what determines their widths and speeds. By studying the clouds and weather on Jupiter, Juno will help us better understand how atmospheres work in general — including our own.
Jupiter is mostly made out of hydrogen and helium — the same light gases that make up a star. In fact, if Jupiter were about 80 times more massive, the pressure and temperature at the center would be high enough for nuclear fusion to ignite, and the planet would become a star.
The rest of Jupiter includes water, ammonia and methane — compounds that arise when you mix oxygen, nitrogen and carbon in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. Deeper inside the planet, these chemicals can change form with increasing pressure and temperature. At its center, Jupiter may even have a rocky core.
But it was able to measure other chemicals, finding that all gases — except for hydrogen, helium and argon — were two to four times more abundant than on the Sun. We have many ideas as to how it acquired these elements, and it turns out that they all predict different amounts of water on the planet.
But as you go deeper inside, the increasing pressure causes the gas to behave in strange ways. As a result, only a thin, outer layer is what we would recognize as an atmosphere. Average distance from Sun: Average distance from the center of a planet to the center of the Sun. Perihelion: The point in a planet's orbit closest to the Sun. Aphelion: The point in a planet's orbit furthest from the Sun. Sidereal Rotation: The time for a body to complete one rotation on its axis relative to the fixed stars such as our Sun.
Earth's sidereal rotation is 23 hours, 57 minutes. Length of Day: The average time for the Sun to move from the Noon position in the sky at a point on the equator back to the same position. Axis tilt: Imagining that a body's orbital plane is perfectly horizontal, the axis tilt is the amount of tilt of the body's equator relative to the body's orbital plane.
Earth is tilted an average of A side note: Beginning on July 16, , 21 large fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 bombarded Jupiter over a six day period. The fragments impacted the planet in a systematic order, one after the other at , mph. This provided a pyrotechnic show of unbelievable proportions. The impact of the comet's fragments released massive plumes of gas into Jupiter's atmosphere, emitting huge fireballs and leaving scarring behind.
One of the largest fragments impacted Jupiter with a force of 6 million megatons of TNT and produced a plume about 1, miles high and 5, miles wide. It left a dark discoloration larger than Earth. The top image to the left shows an impact from fragment "G" on Jupiter. The dark discoloration at the lower left is from fragments "G" and "D". The lower right impact is from fragment "L". Please Contact Us. The violent hurricane can be seen from telescopes on Earth.
The violent cyclone takes about six Earth-days to completely rotate, and is large enough to contain at least two Earths within it. Recent studies have indicated that the gigantic storm may be shrinking. Colder than the bands around it, the Great Red Spot must lie higher in the atmosphere. The source of its reddish color has not yet been established, but it varies throughout the region.
A third of the way into the planet, the hydrogen in the atmosphere becomes metallic, allowing it to conduct electricity. This helps to drive Jupiter's powerful magnetic field. The planet rotates rapidly — once every 9. Jupiter's magnetic field is almost 20, times as powerful as Earth. The electromagnetic storms they generate can be heard by amateur radio operators on Earth, beamed toward us by the plasmas and magnetic field lines.
At times, Jupiter can produce more powerful radio signals than the sun. This article was updated on Oct. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community space. Why does Io have so many volcanoes? How many moons does Jupiter have? Did a comet really crash into Jupiter? How did Jupiter get its name? Who discovered Jupiter? What are the stripes of color on Jupiter?
0コメント