Jupiter was the king of the gods in Roman mythology, and the planet is the king of the family of the Sun. This gas giant is over eleven times the diameter of Earth. Jupiter is in first place among planets in a number of ways. It's atmospheric features can be easily seen through a small telescope. These features definitely change over time. The most notable feture in the clouds of Jupiter is the Great Red Spot. Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field which might sound like this. It rotates the fastest. It has, by far, the greatest mass in the solar system, second only to the Sun itself. Jupiter has been visited by a number of space probes from the United States. And the European Space Agency successfully launched a probe to Jupiter called JUICE. The first probe to Jupiter was Pioneer 10, which was sent to the planet in the early 1970’s with a very controversial plaque mounted on its side. . Pioneer 10 is still out there, headed for a possible encounter with other intelligent life. Following that was the immensely successful Voyager missions. Each of the two Voyager probes had thier own message from Earth. After Voyager, the Galileo probe was the most sophisticated craft ever sent to Jupiter to that point. It included an atmospheric entry probe. These probes have returned thousands of images of the jovian system. Here is NASA’s legacy site for the mission, which has now ended. Right now, the probe called Juno is in orbit around Jupiter, collecting more data on the giant planet. Jupiter also stands out in the solar system with its great number of natural satellites.
Carpe Caelum Planetary Astronomy
Carpe Caelum Planetary Astronomy