What Is Jupiter Made Of?

The gases of Jupiter are mostly hydrogen and helium. These gases mix with small amounts of water, methane and ammonia to form a large layer that surrounds the planet. Under this layer is a layer comprised of liquid hydrogen, which is an effect of the strong pressure that Jupiter generates. Below is another layer of liquid and metallic hydrogen, which surrounds a core made up of iron and rock.

Gas Giants

Our planets were formed out of the solar nebula 4.5 billion years ago. A nebula is a huge cloud of hydrogen, dust, and other elements, which, because of gravity, begins to close in on itself. As this happens, particles of dust and hydrogen collide and start to stick together. As their gravity increases, they collect more material and get bigger.

When the sun ignited, it blasted into space the remaining dust and gases. The extreme heat generated caused any substance with a low melting point to just boil away. This is why the inner four planets are made of rock and metal, and the outer four planets are gas giants composed mostly of light gases. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun.

Jupiter has 63 moons and four rings.

Moons of Jupiter

The moons were formed from collisions or the force of gravity. Collisions are simply one body crashing into another, which can cause part of one to be broken off and it can become a moon. When a passing asteroid comes too close to a planet, the planet’s gravity can pull in it. If it establishes an orbit, it becomes a moon. Smaller moons are usually made in this way.

Rings of Jupiter

Jupiter’s small, inner moons played a part in the formation of its four rings. When these moons are hit by meteoroids, dust is blasted off into space. This dust then begins to orbit, becomes part of the rings of Jupiter.

Facts About Jupiter

Roman mythology provided Jupiter's name. Jupiter ruled Olympus and was the king of the gods. This was a fitting name, because Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system.

When you look at Jupiter, you see swirls and ribbons that are red, yellow, white and brown. You can also see clouds and storms indicative of Jupiter’s violent weather. One particularly large storm, which is like a hurricane, is called the Great Red Spot. Unlike a hurricane on Earth, it seems to never weaken or dissipate. It will eventually die, but not for hundreds of years.

Jupiter has the fastest rotation of any planet in our solar system. Because of this, it bulges in the middle and flattens at the poles. Its orbit around the sun takes about the equivalent of twelve Earth years.

Exploration of Jupiter

To explore a planet, you send a probe to either fly by, orbit, or land. All but one of the missions to explore Jupiter have been flybys.

Pioneer 10 was the first to fly by Jupiter in 1973. More missions continued, and in 1979, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 discovered Jupiter’s rings. The Galileo orbiter is the only one, to date, to have established an orbit. It established an orbit in 1995 and collected data for over seven years.

Missions to Jupiter will probably continue, as we try to unravel the mysteries of our solar system and the universe.