The gas giant is the fifth planet in the solar system, if counted from the star. The mass of Jupiter makes it the largest object of all that revolve around our star.
This celestial body is the so-called giant. It contains more than 2/3 of the planetary matter of our entire system. The mass of Jupiter is 318 times greater than the Earth. In volume, this planet exceeds ours by 1300 times. Even that part of it that can be seen from Earth is 120 times larger than the area of our blue “baby”. The gas giant is a hydrogen ball, very close to a star in chemical composition.
Jupiter
The mass of Jupiter (in kg) is so huge that it is simply impossible to imagine. It is expressed in this way: 1.8986x10 in the 27th degree of kg. This planet is so large that it is far superior in mass to all other bodies combined (excluding the Sun) in our star system.
Structure
The structure of the planet is multi-layered, but it is difficult to talk about specific parameters. You can talk about only one possible model. The atmosphere of the planet is considered to be a layer starting from the top of the cloud and extending to a depth of about 1000 kilometers. On the lower edge of the atmospheric layer, pressure is up to 150 thousand atmospheres. The temperature of the planet at this boundary is about 2000 K.
Below this area is a gas-liquid layer of hydrogen. This layer is characterized by the transition of a gaseous substance into a liquid as it deepens. At present, science cannot describe this process from the point of view of physics. It is known that at temperatures exceeding 33 K, hydrogen exists only in the form of a gas. However, Jupiter completely destroys this axiom.
In the lower part of the hydrogen layer, the pressure is 700,000 atmospheres, while the temperature rises to 6500 K. Below is an ocean of liquid hydrogen without the slightest particle of gas. Under this layer is ionized, decomposed into hydrogen atoms. This is the reason for the strong magnetic field of the planet.
The mass of Jupiter is known, but it is difficult to speak definitely about the mass of its core. Scientists believe that it can be 5 or 15 times larger than the earth. It has a temperature of 25,000-30000 degrees at a pressure of 70 million atmospheres.
Atmosphere
The red tint of some of the clouds on the planet indicates that Jupiter includes not only hydrogen, but also complex compounds. The planet’s atmosphere contains methane, ammonia, and even particles of water vapor. In addition, traces of ethane, phosphine, carbon monoxide, propane, acetylene were detected. Of these substances, it is difficult to single out one, which is the cause of the original color of the clouds. This is equally likely to be compounds of sulfur, organic matter or phosphorus.
Lighter and darker stripes parallel to the equator of the planet are multidirectional atmospheric currents. Their speed can develop up to 100 meters per second. The boundary of the currents is rich in huge turbulences. The most impressive of them is the Big Red Spot. This whirlwind has been raging for more than 300 years and has dimensions of 15x30 thousand km. The time of the storm is unknown. Presumably, he has been rampant for thousands of years. A hurricane makes a complete revolution around its axis in a week. The atmosphere of Jupiter is rich in similar vortices, which, however, are much smaller and live no longer than two years.
Ring
Jupiter is a planet whose mass is much larger than the earth. In addition, he is full of surprises and unique phenomena. So, there are auroras, radio noises, dust storms on it. The smallest particles that received an electric charge from the solar wind have an interesting dynamics: being the middle between micro and macro bodies, they react almost equally to electromagnetic and gravitational fields. These particles make up the ring surrounding the planet. It was discovered in 1979. The radius of the main part is 129 thousand km. The width of the ring is only 30 km. In addition, its structure is very sparse, so it can reflect only thousandths of a percent of the light that hits it. There is no way to observe the ring from the Earth - it is so thin. In addition, it is always turned by a thin edge to our planet due to the slight inclination of the axis of rotation of the giant planet to the plane of the orbit.
A magnetic field
The mass and radius of Jupiter, together with its chemical composition, allows the planet to have a giant magnetic field. His tension greatly exceeds earthly. The magnetosphere extends far into space, at a distance of about 650 million km, even going beyond the orbit of Saturn. However, in the direction of the Sun, this distance is less than 40 times. Thus, even at such vast distances, the Sun "does not descent" to its planets. This “behavior” of the magnetosphere makes it completely unlike the sphere.
Will it be a star?
Strange as it may seem to suggest this, it may still happen that Jupiter becomes a star. One of the scientists put forward such a hypothesis, having come to the conclusion that this giant has a source of nuclear energy.
Moreover, we are well aware that, in principle, no planet can have its own source. Despite the fact that they are visible in the sky, this is due to reflected sunlight. Whereas Jupiter radiates much more energy than the Sun brings to it.
Some scientists believe that after about 3 billion years, the mass of Jupiter will be equal to the solar. And then a global cataclysm will happen: the solar system in the form in which it is known today will cease to exist.