Jupiter

Question 1

What are the basic information about Jupiter?

Answer 1

1. At an average distance of over 5 AU, Jupiter
   takes nearly 12 years to orbit the Sun
2. Jupiter receives less than 1/25th of the radiation
   the Earth receives so its outer layers are cold
3. Jupiter is by far the largest and most massive
   planet in the solar system being over 11x the size and 318x the mass of the Earth.
4. Jupiter has a much lower density than the
   Terrestrial planets since it is made mostly of gases and liquids
5. Jupiter is the strongest source of gravity in the
   solar system after the Sun with an escape velocity of more than 60 km/s

Question 2

What is Jupiter internal rotation period?

Answer 2

9 hr. 55 min

Question 3

What is Jupiter’s atmospheric composition?

Answer 3

Hydrogen: 98.8%
Helium: 10.2%
Very similar to the sun

Question 4

What is Zonal Flow?

Answer 4

Clouds in belts and zones travel in opposite directions

Question 5

What are Jupiter’s weather patterns?

Answer 5

Belts and Zones.
Belts (hotter): cool air sinking
Zones (cooler): warm air rising
Zones higher than Belt

Question 6

What are the three layers of clouds in J’s atmosphere?

Answer 6

Ammonia Ice, Ammonium Hydro sulfide Ice, Water Ice

Question 7

What did The Galileo Mission (1995-2003) do?

Answer 7

Orbiter and atmospheric entry probe

Question 8

What does the Juno Orbiter do?

Answer 8

Currently studying Jupiter’s gravity, magnetic fields, atmospheric dynamics and composition

Question 9

What caused Jupiter’s magnetic field?

Answer 9

The rapid rotation of Jupiter causes the liquid metallic hydrogen to flow
Result:
A very powerful magnetic field 20,000x stronger than the Earth’s

Question 10

What are the Galilean Moons?

Answer 10

Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto

Question 11

How do the Galilean Moons orbit Jupiter?

Answer 11

Synchronous Rotations: Same side always faces Jupiter

Question 12

What are the Galilean Moons Physical Properties?

Answer 12

Two small higher density moons close to Jupiter (Io and Europa) and two larger lower density moons far from Jupiter (Ganymede, Callisto)

Question 13

How is the surface of Io?

Answer 13

Highly colored surface covered with sulfur compounds
Like a moldy pizza!
Not a single impact crater!

Question 14

What is the geological activity in Io?

Answer 14

Super hot volcanism.

More than 80 active volcanoes (Patera)

Question 15

Are the orbital periods of Io, Europa and

Ganymede related to each other?

Answer 15

1:2:4 resonance

1 G orbit = 2 Europa orbit = 4 Io orbit

Question 16

How does Europa look like?

Answer 16

Very smooth, icy surface with few impact craters

Covered with cracks called linements and dark debris from meteoroid impacts

Question 17

What is Europa’s Linements?

Answer 17

Cracks caused by tidal flexing

Icy crust must be very thin or would not crack

Question 18

What cause Tidal Heating (source of internal heating in Io and Europa)?

Answer 18

The tidal force constantly changes in strength and
direction distorting and flexing the interior which
generates an enormous amount of internal heat

Question 19

How are the size and densities of Ganymede and Callisto?

Answer 19

Similar in size to Mercury

Lower densities consistent with being made of a mixture of ice and rock

Question 20

How does Ganymede look like? Explain some basic information about this moon.

Answer 20

Craters seen as bright spots;
The solar system’s largest moon;
Larger than Mercury;
The only moon to have its own magnetic field;
Activity ended about 3 billion years ago when crust thickened

Question 21

How does Callisto look like?

Answer 21

Very old and heavily cratered surface

Question 22

Describe structure of Jupiter’s ring

Answer 22

Consists of a thick inner halo, a thin bright main ring and two wide, faint outer gossamer rings;
The ring particles are made of dust grains ejected from the inner moons by impacts

Question 23

What was the first spacecraft to make direct observations and obtain close-up images of Jupiter?

Answer 23

Pioneer 10 (1972-2002)