Jupiter - Gas Giant

Jupiter is more than twice as massive than the other planets of our solar system combined. The giant planet's Great Red spot is a centuries-old storm bigger than Earth. 1. Eleven Earths could fit across Jupiter’s equator. If Earth were the size of a grape, Jupiter would be the size of a basketball. 2. Orbits about 484 million miles (778 million kilometers) or 5.2 Astronomical Units (AU) from our Sun (Earth is one AU from the Sun). 3. Rotates once about every 10 hours (a Jovian day), but takes about 12 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun (a Jovian year). 4. A gas giant and so lacks an Earth-like surface. If it has a solid inner core at all, it’s likely only about the size of Earth. 5. Jupiter's atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen (H2) and helium (He). 6. Has more than 75 moons. 7. In 1979 the Voyager mission discovered Jupiter’s faint ring system. All four giant planets in our solar system have ring systems.