Facts about Jupiter

They tell me Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Ha. We’ll see about that. Just wait until the engineers finish drawing up plans for our Mechanical Death Planet.

Now I know the name sounds disconcerting, but that’s so we can raise money when it comes time to build the darn thing. Have you ever met an investment banker? It’s like arguing with a leprechaun.

We probably won’t even activate the giant laser beam.

It’s mostly there for show.

1. Jupiter is so humongous you could fit about 318 Earths inside of it.

2. Jupiter has *at least* 79 moons. In 2019 it only had 67. Astronomers discover new moons almost every year.

3. Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in the night sky. Number one is the Sun, two is the Moon, and three is Venus.

4. If you look up at Jupiter and see some sparkling lights swimming around it, those aren’t fairies, those are its Galilean Moons.

5. Humans have flown probes past Jupiter seven times, and crashed a probe into it once. (The Galileo.) The probe didn’t malfunction, its research mission was just over.

6. Jupiter is the fastest-spinning planet in our solar system. A day on the gas giant is only 9 hours and 56 minutes.

7. Similar to Saturn, Jupiter also has rings. These rings come from asteroids smashing into it (they think) and the space dust turns into a ring. Eventually these rings dissipate and are replaced by more dust. (Jupiter catches a lot of asteroids.)

@grakozy

8. There is a gigantic hurricane raging on Jupiter. It’s called the Great Red Spot. How gigantic? You could fit three Earths into it. This hurricane has been raging for at least 350 years. Although it could be much longer. We only just became aware of it in 1665. Since then, the Great Red Spot has shrunk about 50%. Maybe by the year 3000 it’ll be gone entirely. We’ll get back to you on that one.

9. Jupiter is named after the Roman king of gods. (Zeus in Greek mythology.) He was the god of sky and thunder. His sacred animal was the eagle. Which explains why so many Roman banners and sigils had eagles on them.

10. Ancient Babylonians from the 7th century were the first ones to spot Jupiter.

11. Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is a belt of ammonia and sulfur clouds. It would not smell great on Jupiter.

12. Jupiter’s main atmosphere is 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. (Pretty much the same as the Sun.) Given how we’re running out helium here on Earth, maybe one day we’ll send a ship to steal some from Jupiter. Helium is a 100% non-renewable resource. Once we’re out, we’re out.

13. Jupiter has the largest moon in the solar system. The moon Ganymede is larger than the planet Mercury. (Sorry, Mercury.)