The Last Frontier: Jupiter
First, let's look at the history of Jupiter: Jupiter was the Roman name
for the Greek god king, Zeus. He ruled atop Mount Olympus.
Jupiter has had a few visitors in its past. This planet was first
visited by Pioneer 10 in 1973. Later on, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1,
Voyager 2, and Ulysses also visited. A special spacecraft is even out orbiting
Jupiter as you read -- Galileo -- and will be orbiting Jupiter
for at least the next 2 years, taking pictures of this gaseous planet.
Here's some facts on Jupiter:
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. Jupiter is the first non-terrestrial
planet in our solar system, which means it's a gas giant and doesn't have
a rocky core, unlike the four inner planets and Pluto.
One of the most well-known things about
Jupiter is its Great Red Spot.
Another well known fact is that
Jupiter has many moons. 16 to be exact. A fun fact about these moons
is that they were named mostly after Zeus's lovers. Here are their names,
in alphabetical order:
Adrastea, Amalthea, Ananke, Callisto, Carme, Elara, Europa, Ganymede,
Himalia, Io, Leda, Lysithea, Metis, Pasiphae, Sinope, and Thebe.
Another interestiong fact is that Jupiter DOES have rings, but not as
large and visible as Saturn's.
I'll leave you with a few pictures.
(Here is the wonderful website that helped me along with my essay when I
couldn't remember all of the moons {who could?}, and a few of these
wonderful facts.
Click on
this link to find out more. )
