Jupiter is the largest planet in our

Solar System and is roughly as

wide as 11 Earths put together. It
also has more moons than any
other planet, so far scientists have
found at least 60 and are still
looking for more. The four biggest
moons are called Io, Europa,
Callisto and Ganymede. Most of
the smaller ones appear to have
been captured by Jupiters huge
gravity.
There is no oxygen on Jupiter but there is water. It is spread over the
planet like clouds, and mixed with all the other gases. There are no seas,
lakes, or oceans.
The temperature on the planet Jupiter is very low because it is so far from
the Sun:
During the day: -121C
During the night: -163C
The planet Jupiter is a gas giant; it is made up of 82% hydrogen, 17%
helium, 1% methane, ammonia, some water and other gases with a small
rocky core.
Jupiters average distance from the Sun is 778,330,000 km (778 million
330 thousand kilometres).
If you were travelling in a spaceship
at 30,000 kph, it would still take
1081 days or just over 3 years to get
to Jupiter from Earth in a straight
line. In 1995 NASA launched a
probe called Galileo to investigate
the planet and it took around 6 years
to arrive.
Jupiter takes 12 years to orbit the Sun and rotates in 10 hours, so even
though its a lot bigger than the Earth, its day is a lot shorter than ours.

There are very powerful winds on

Jupiter. At the equator the wind can
reach speeds as high as 335mph. You
would be blown away if you could stand
there. These high speed winds create
lightning and huge storms like the Great
Red Spot, which has been raging for over
300 years and is over twice as wide as
the planet Earth.
Gravity on Jupiter is 2.5 times what it is
on planet Earth. So on Jupiter I would
weigh 9.5 stone which is heavier than my
Mum.
The pressure (the weight of the air) on Jupiter is much higher than Earth.
On Earth our atmosphere presses down on us at about 14 pounds per
square inch, but as were used to this we dont feel it. On Jupiter the
pressure is over 14,500 pounds per square inch. This is over seven tons
per square inch, about the same as a bus on every square inch of your
body. If you could suddenly appear on the surface of Jupiter, you would
be squashed flat.
Jupiter does actually have rings like Saturns. The main ring system is
formed by dust from items being smashed into the planets four smaller
moons. Also Galileo found a flattened main ring and an inner ring which
are formed of small dark particles and a third ring as well, known as the
Gossamer ring. They are different from Saturns rings as there is no
evidence of any ice in the rings.

The

sizes
of the planets.