What is jupiter

This provided a pyrotechnic show of unbelievable proportions. The impact of the comet's fragments released massive plumes of gas into Jupiter's atmosphere, emitting huge fireballs and leaving scarring behind. One of the largest fragments impacted Jupiter with a force of 6 million megatons of TNT and produced a plume about 1, miles high and 5, miles wide. It left a dark discoloration larger than Earth. The top image to the left shows an impact from fragment "G" on Jupiter.

The dark discoloration at the lower left is from fragments "G" and "D". The lower right impact is from fragment "L". Please Contact Us. Please try another search. Multiple locations were found. Please select one of the following:. Location Help. Customize Your Weather. Privacy Policy. The Planet Jupiter Weather. Current Hazards.

Local Radar. Rivers and Lakes. A probe or spacecraft traveling farther toward the center of the planet would continue to find only thick clouds until it reached the core.

Details about Jupiter's core remain a challenge to find. Scientists think that the dense central core may be surrounded by a layer of metallic hydrogen, with another layer of molecular hydrogen on top.

Scientists aren't certain of just how solid Jupiter's core might be. While some theorize that the core is a hot molten ball of liquid, other research indicates that it could be a solid rock 14 to 18 times the mass of the Earth. The temperature at the core is estimated to be about 35, degrees Celsius 63, degrees Fahrenheit. Discussions about Jupiter's core didn't even begin until the late s, when gravitational measurements revealed that the center of the gas giant was anywhere from 12 to 45 times the mass of Earth.

A new paper details how the hydrological cycle of the now-dry lake at Jezero Crater is more complicated than originally thought. Winds in the outermost "lane" of Jupiter's Great Red Spot are accelerating — a discovery made possible by Hubble. Researchers will use Webb to observe 17 actively forming planetary systems.

This year, the minimum extent of Arctic sea ice dropped to 1. The lander cleared enough dust from one solar panel to keep its seismometer on through the summer, allowing scientists to study three big quakes. Scientists found evidence that an area on Mars called Arabia Terra had thousands of "super eruptions" over a million-year period.

Full Moon Guide: September - October Perseverance successfully collected its first pair of rock samples, and scientists already are gaining new insights into the region. Data received late Sept. The rover will abrade a rock this week, allowing scientists and engineers to decide whether that target would withstand its powerful drill. Drought is a complicated problem that requires lots of data. Satellites from NASA and its partners help collect that data.

Drought Makes its Home on the Range. This structure extends halfway from the main ring down to the planet's cloud tops and expands. Both the main ring and halo are composed of small, dark particles of dust. The third ring, known as the gossamer ring because of its transparency, is actually three rings of microscopic debris from three of Jupiter's moons, Amalthea, Thebe and Adrastea. It is probably made up of dust particles less than 10 microns in diameter, about the same size of the particles found in cigarette smoke, and extends to an outer edge of about 80, miles , km from the center of the planet and inward to about 18, miles 30, km.

Ripples in the rings of both Jupiter and Saturn may be signs of impacts from comets and asteroids. Voyager 1 and 2 helped astronomers create the first detailed maps of the Galilean satellites, discovered Jupiter's rings, revealed sulfur volcanoes on Io and detected lightning in Jupiter's clouds. Ulysses discovered the solar wind has a much greater impact on Jupiter's magnetosphere than what was previously suggested.

New Horizons took close-up pictures of Jupiter and its largest moons. In , Galileo sent a probe plunging toward Jupiter, making the first direct measurements of the planet's atmosphere and measuring the amount of water and other chemicals there. When Galileo ran low on fuel, the craft was intentionally crashed into Jupiter to avoid any risk of it slamming into and contaminating Europa, which might have an ocean below its surface capable of supporting life.

Juno is the only mission at Jupiter at the moment. Juno studies Jupiter from a polar orbit to figure out how it and the rest of the solar system formed, which could shed light on how alien planetary systems might have developed. One of its key findings so far was discovering that Jupiter's core may be larger than what scientists expected. As the most massive body in the solar system after the sun, the pull of Jupiter's gravity has helped shape the fate of our system.

Jupiter's gravity is likely responsible for violently hurling Neptune and Uranus outward. Jupiter, along with Saturn, may have slung a barrage of debris toward the inner planets early in the system's history, although some scientists debate how much of a role each planet played in moving the asteroids around.

Jupiter may also help keep asteroids from bombarding Earth, and recent events have shown that Jupiter can absorb some pretty significant impacts. Observations by amateurs have shown that Jupiter receives a few major impacts per decade , far more than what was predicted when Comet Shoemaker Levy-9 crashed into the planet in