NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and the largest planet in the solar system. More than 1,000 Earths would fit inside Jupiter. When viewed from Earth, Jupiter appears brighter than most stars. Among the planets, only Venus is brighter. Jupiter is named after the king of the Roman gods.

Image to left: Jupiter is a giant ball of gas and liquid. Credit: World Book illustration by Herb Herrick

Jupiter is a giant ball of gas and liquid. It has little or no solid surface. Instead, the planet's surface is made of thick red, brown, yellow, and white clouds. The clouds have dark- and light-colored areas. These areas circle the planet and give it a striped appearance.

Jupiter's most outstanding surface feature is the Great Red Spot, a swirling mass of gas. It looks like a TV weather display of a hurricane. The color of the Great Red Spot varies from brick-red to brownish. Jupiter has three thin rings around its middle. They seem to be made mostly of dust particles.

Jupiter rotates, or spins, faster than any other planet. Jupiter's day -- that is, the time it takes to spin around once -- is only about 10 hours long. By comparison, Earth's day is 24 hours long. Jupiter takes about 12 years to travel once around the sun, while Earth takes one year.

Jupiter has 63 known moons. These moons revolve around Jupiter the way our moon revolves around Earth. Scientists have discovered volcanoes on the moon called Io. They believe that the moon called Europa contains water.

How to cite this article: To cite this article, World Book recommends the following format: "Jupiter." The World Book Student Discovery Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2005.

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