Chapter IV
Jupiter
Fig. 4.9 Jupiter FieldThe largest planet in the solar system with a diameter nine times greater than the earth.
Because of its constant light during the night, the Greeks called the planet the supreme
god. Giant storms with speeds of 350 km/h, lash the dust from the surface up to 25k.m.
high. The atmosphere mainly contains hydrogen. Just like the sun, its composition is 9
parts hydrogen, 1 part helium. Because of its smaller mass, it never self-ignited, keeping
its temperatures much lower (between + 25 and – 150°C). The center is about 20,000°C.
If its mass was 50 times bigger, we would have had two stars in our solar system creating
a completely different environment. Jupiter has 16 satellites.