Glossary term: Júpiter

Description: Júpiter es el planeta más grande del Sistema Solar y el quinto en orden desde el Sol. Es un gigante gaseoso con un radio de 71,300 kilómetros (km), unas 11 veces el radio de la Tierra. La masa de Júpiter (318 veces la masa de la Tierra) es mayor que la de todos los demás planetas y cuerpos menores del Sistema Solar juntos.

Su distancia típica al Sol es de 778 millones de km, unas cinco unidades astronómicas (distancias Tierra-Sol), tardando algo menos de 12 años en completar una órbita. Hasta 2023, los astrónomos habían detectado más de 90 lunas o satélites naturales orbitando Júpiter.

Es visible a simple vista. Su nombre en inglés deriva del rey romano de los dioses. Observado con un pequeño telescopio se aprecian cinturones de nubes de distintos colores y una gigantesca región de tormenta circular roja (la llamada Gran Mancha Roja). En las últimas décadas se han enviado algunas sondas espaciales a Júpiter, y en 2016 la nave espacial Juno de la NASA comenzó a explorar Júpiter y sus lunas con mucho más detalle.

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Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval

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Related Media

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Credit: Vishal Sharma/IAU OAE

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) icons

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Caption: Second place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Galilean moons. This sequence shows the orbit of the four Galilean moons around the planet Jupiter. Almost two entire orbits of the innermost moon, Io, can be seen, with the other moons (Europa and Ganymede, but in particular Callisto) being further away, orbiting noticeably slower. The images were obtained in 2018 with the Las Cumbres Global Observatory at different locations on Earth, allowing a continuous sequence of images over approximately half a week without gaps during the day. With clear skies and over the course of several nights, the motion of the Galilean moons can also be observed with binoculars (ideally steady your elbows on a surface).
Credit: Nicolas Hurez, Paul-Antoine Matrangolo and Carl Pennypacker/IAU OAE

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) icons

Jupiter with coloured horizontal bands of clouds. The shadow of the moon Io is seen as a dark circle in the top left

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Caption: First place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Galilean moons. This time-lapse of Jupiter taken in 2017 from Germany beautifully illustrates the transit of one of the Galilean moons, Io, in front of Jupiter. As this is simply a moon casting a shadow on a planet it is equivalent to a lunar eclipse on Earth observed from further away. While the shadow of the moon is clearly visible from the beginning, it might be difficult to spot the moon itself against the background of the beautiful atmospheric bands of Jupiter the first time the video is seen. Watching it repeatedly allows appreciating the rapid motion and rotation in this fantastic observation.
Credit: Ralf Burkart/IAU OAE

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) icons

Jupiter

Caption: This full disk view of Jupiter was obtained on 21 April 2014 with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). It shows the prominent great red spot, a gigantic cyclone. Cloud ribbons cover the surface, whose colours stem from gases like ammonia and other chemical compounds.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center) credit link

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) icons

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Credit: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) icons

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