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Jupiter size

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Meeting the king of the solar system: The history of the study of Jupiter

An astronomer once said that the solar system consists of the Sun, Jupiter and “a bunch of junk.” Of course, this quip should not be taken too seriously, because each planet is unique in its own way, and their degrees of interest have nothing to do with their size. However, it points to a simple and undeniable fact: Jupiter is truly huge. It is the solar system’s largest planet, with a mass 2.5 times greater than the mass of all the other seven planets combined. Jupiter can thus be rightly called the king of the solar system.

In this article, we will analyze how humanity has explored Jupiter and discuss plans to study it in the near future.

Medici Stars and the Speed ​​of Light

Jupiter is one of the brightest objects in the night sky. This meant that it was well known to ancient astronomers, who described in detail the 12-year cycle of its movement. It is believed that the Chinese zodiac appeared precisely because of this periodicity. In some chronicles there are also references to a small star accompany

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Jupiter

For other uses, see Jupiter (disambiguation).

Full-disc view in natural color in April 2014[a]

Pronunciation[1][page needed]

Named after

Jupiter
AdjectivesJovian
EpochJ2000
Aphelion816.62 Gm (5.4588 AU)
Perihelion740.52 Gm (4.9501 AU)

Semi-major axis

778.57 Gm (5.2044 AU)
Eccentricity0.0489

Orbital period

Synodic period

398.88 d

Average orbital speed

13.07 km/s (8.12 mi/s)

Mean anomaly

20.020°[3]
Inclination

Longitude of ascending node

100.464°

Time of periastron

21 January 2023[5]

Argument of perihelion

273.867°[3]
Known satellites95 (as of 2023[update])[6]

Mean radius

69,911 km (43,441 mi)[b]
10.973 Earths

Equatorial radius

  • 71,492 km (44,423 mi)[b]
  • 11.209 Earths

Polar radius

  • 66,854 km (41,541 mi)[b]
  • 10.517 Earths
Flat
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A history of Jupiter exploration: the journey to Juice

Science & Exploration

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ESA / Science & Exploration / Space Science / Juice

ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) is currently winging its way to Jupiter to explore the planet and its fascinating array of moons.

We have explored Jupiter for decades via both passing spacecraft (flybys) and spacecraft positioned in orbit around the planet. Our exploration began in the 1970s with NASA’s Pioneer programme, and continues today with NASA’s Juno and Europa Clipper missions and ESA’s Juice.

Past flybys

The first spacecraft to explore Jupiter were part of NASA’s Pioneer programme in the 1970s. Pioneers 10 and 11 visited the gas giant in 1973 and 1974, followed by NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 probes in 1979. Later came flybys by the ESA/NASA Ulysses probe (1992), the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens mission (2000) and NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft (2007).

Overall, these flybys painted a picture of Jupiter as a world with intense magnetism, an extreme and changeable atmosph

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