Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, so large that you could fit 1300 Earths inside it. It has more mass than all of the other planets combined.
Jupiter is a gas giant, that is it is a huge ball of gas. It has no solid surface, what you see in photos is the top of the cloud layer. The bands are high speed currents in the atmosphere, some moving east to west, others in the other direction.
A major feature is the Great Red Spot, a huge rotating area of the atmosphere much like a cyclone. It was first observed some 300 years ago and is still going strong.
JUPITER
Credit: NASA, Reta Beebe and Amy Simon (New Mexico State University)
A close up of the area around the Red Spot shows a great deal of turbulence and mixing of atmospheric gases. Various compounds mix and react producing the different colours.
The atmosphere consists of Hydrogen, Helium, Ammonia, Methane, with traces of other poisonous chemicals.
Unlike the Earth, there is no clear boundary between the atmosphere and body of Jupiter.
The top layer of clouds consists of small particles suspended in the atmosphere called aerosols. As one goes deeper the make up of the clouds varies, the pressure increases and the temperature rises. Eventually the pressure becomes so great that Hydrogen turns into a fluid. This layer of fluid metallic Hydrogen supports large a electric current that creates Jupiter's strong magnetic field. In the centre there may be a molten rocky core.
Jupiter radiates more heat than it receives from the Sun as it has not yet cooled down from its formation.
Jupiter has a large number of moons, four of which are visible through a small telescope or binoculars. More information here
Vital Statistics for Jupiter – Click Here
© Matthew Wallace 2006