Jupiter: The Largest Planet

Introduction

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun and is the largest planet in all of our solar system.

Jupiter is more than twice as massive as all of the other planets combined and is made from about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. Despite having sent different spaceships and orbiters to observe Jupiter there is a lot more to learn about the planet. That is why from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011, NASA New Frontiers mission launched a spacecraft named “Juno” to study and find out more about Jupiter.

More specifically, Juno will map Jupiter’s gravity field, magnetic field and its atmospheric structure from a polar orbit. The whole purpose of this mission is to have a better understanding of the formation of our solar system and planetary systems discovered around the stars.

Juno Project Nasa

Why Jupiter?

The primary scientific goal of the NASA space mission Juno is to drastically improve our understanding of the planet Jupiter. Jupiter, which is considered, as the “Gas Giant Planet” and scientists believe that Jupiter can show the secrets to the fundamental processes of the formation of our solar system. Scientists at NASA have developed different theories as to how Jupiter was formed. Some believed that it began as a solid chunk of heavy material, like rock or ice. As gravity gathered debris, its gravitational pull increased and eventually it became big enough to attract light gases. Another theory is that Jupiter was formed when a small region of the gas disk around the sun collapsed on its own.

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Whatever the case is, they are all theories. They are all ideas of how Jupiter was formed, and no one really knows how Jupiter was made for sure. Which is why the Juno mission was launched. If we can find out what makes Jupiter’s core and exactly how much water the planet contains we can narrow down the number of theories that were developed by the scientists. Jupiter has long intrigued scientists since Galileo’s time.