Jupiter

Poll

Jupiter is primarily composed of what type of gas?

• Oxygen and Helium

• Nitrogen and Oxygen

• Methane

• Argon and Hydrogen

• Hydrogen and Helium

Essential Question(s)

1.

How can exploring Jupiter be beneficial
to humans?

2.

How can students distinguish the giant
planets from each other and from the
terrestrial planets?

Essential Question(s)

1.

Can exploring Jupiter's moons be beneficial
to humans? Could there be resources we can use?

Jupiter

The Planet Jupiter

• Jupiter is the fifth planet from our Sun and

is named for the king of ancient Roman
gods.

• It is the biggest planet in our solar system.

More than 1,300 Earths could fit inside.

• Jupiter is more than five times farther than

the sun than Earth. That's 484 million miles
away or 5.1 Astronomical Units (AU).

Open Ended

Do you remember what an Astronomical Unit is? (AU) Tell me...

The Planet Jupiter

• Jupiter – 11 times wider than Earth.

– Mostly Hydrogen and Helium.
– Sea of liquid molecular H2 & He 12,000km

deep

• At the bottom, 30,000o C under 100

trillion times Earth normal pressure.

✔Liquid metallic hydrogen
✔Generates Jupiter’s massive magnetic

field

Open Ended

Go to this website and read it. Then, summarize why Jupiter could have become a Star (a sun). https://astronomy.com/magazine/greatest-mysteries/2019/07/48-is-jupiter-a-failed-star

Multiple Choice

Why has the planet Jupiter been described as a "failed star?"

• it lacks star status

• lacks enough mass to create nuclear fusion

• lacks enough mass to start nuclear fission

• lacks heavier elements

Multiple Choice

Jupiter is referred to as a _____

• gas giant

• liquid behemoth

• vapor mammoth

• rocky colossus

The Planet Jupiter

• In essense, on Jupiter, the pressure is so strong it

squishes gas into liquid.

• Jupiter's stripes and swirls are cold, windy

clouds of ammonia and water.

• Jupiter has its own 'mini solar system' with

80 confirmed moons.

• Ganymede is the solar system's largest

moon. It is bigger than Pluto and Mercury.

Audio Response

Go to this website, read it, and be prepared to give a 30 to 45 second verbal response describing Jupiter's atmosphere. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/jupiter/in-depth/

You have 5 minutes to complete this assignment.

Open Audio Recorder

​This image of a "jet" in Jupiter's atmosphere was taken by the JunoCam public engagement camera aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft on May 23, 2022.

Jupiter's atmosphere is organized into belts and zones, separated by jets, which are associated with turbulence along belt-zone boundaries, leading to chaotic regions of multicolored clouds. In this image, the color in these two regions has been enhanced to bring out detail and show the different layers of cloud decks.

This image of Jet N3 was acquired on PJ42, Juno's 42nd pass by Jupiter, at an altitude of 2,361 miles (3,800 kilometers).

​Zoomed in of the previous image. You can easily see the tops of the clouds.

Poll

What do you think about that prior photo taken by the Juno Spacecraft?

• Those pictures are amazing...

• Wow, so detailed

• Those images are exciting

Multiple Choice

Despite its bulk, Jupiter rotates extremely rapidly: One day on Jupiter is a mere _____

• 50 minutes long

• 1 hour long

• 10 hours long

• 15 hours long

Jupiter

• Jupiter (cont)

– Rocky core 10-20x Earth size
– Atmosphere is verified H2, He, with NH4,

H2O, CH4

– Great Red Spot – Earth would fit into it!

• Spot and bands have existed for centuries
• Galileo’s probe stopped transmitting at 130km

in at 150oC (300oF) with 650km/hr winds at
22 bars.

• Winds likely driven by heat from below.

Multiple Choice

Jupiter is often described as a gas giant; which of the following gases is it composed of?

• All gases from the periodic table

• oxygen, carbon dioxide and trace amounts of other gases

• hydrogen and helium

• none of the above

Jupiter

Audio Response

Please verbally summarize the video in a few short words.

Open Audio Recorder

Open Ended

Go to this website and write down about 8 facts about Jupiter. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/jupiter/in-depth/

You have 10 minutes to complete this section.

Multiple Choice

Ganymede is the largest ___ in the solar system and orbits Jupiter.

• moon

• planet

• dwarf planet

• asteroid

Multiple Select

Jupiter's magnetosphere is the _____ of all the planets in the solar system.

• largest

• most extensive

• smallest

• weakest

Multiple Choice

If one day on Jupiter is 10 hours, how long is one year? (AROUND)

• around 12 earth years

• around 3 years

• 11.86 earth years

• 1 year

Multiple Choice

True or False-Is the Great Eye on Jupiter a raging storm

• True

• False

The image of the comet
Comet Shoemaker-Levy ,
showing 21 fragments, was
taken on 17 May 1994. The
image of Jupiter was taken
on 18 May 1994; the dark
spot on the planet's disc is
the shadow of the inner
moon lo.

Moons of the Jovian Planets

• Moons of Jupiter – Galileo saw 4 in 1610 A.D.

– The count is up to 53, with 14 provisional moons.

• Io – the innermost, about the same size as our own

– Volcanic eruptions observed (sulfur volcanism)
– Driven by heating from tidal stress

• Europa – rocky body covered with water, but frozen

– Fractured water ice terrain with slurry beneath likely
– Environment could be favorable for life
– May have more water than Earth…interesting!

• Ganymede & Callisto – both heavily cratered

– Both have water (ice) under the rocky surface.

The moon Ganymede

• Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar

system. It is larger than Mercury and Pluto,
and three-quarters the size of Mars.

• Ganymede has three main layers.

– A sphere of metallic iron at the center
– A spherical shell of rock (mantle) surrounding

the core, and…

– A spherical shell of mostly ice. (yes, water ice!)

• The moon has its own magnetic field.

The moon Ganymede

• Astronomers, through the Hubble Space Telescope,

found evidence of thin a oxygen atmosphere in 1996.

• The atmosphere is far too thin to support

life as we know it.

• In mythology, Ganymede was a beautiful

young boy who was carried to Olympus by
Zeus disguised as an eagle.

Olympian gods.

This is an image taken
by the Cassini
spacecraft upon its
approach to Jupiter.
Jupiter's moon
Ganymede is shown.

Ganymede

Io

Multiple Choice

True or False: Ganymede is bigger than Mercury.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Ganymede is the largest ___ in the solar system and orbits Jupiter.

• moon

• planet

• dwarf planet

• asteroid

Audio Response

Go to this website: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/ganymede/overview/

Read it, and verbally record yourself giving 6 facts about Ganymede. You have 10 minutes to complete this assignment.

Open Audio Recorder

Poll

Which Moon would you like to travel to...

• Ganymede

• Callisto

• Io

• Europa

Io

An active volcanic eruption on Jupiter's
moon Io was captured in this image taken
by NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

Open Ended

What are some interesting facts about the moon Io: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/io/overview/#otp_introduction

Europa

The moon Europa

• Jupiter's moon Europa is slightly smaller

than Earth's moon.

• Its surface is smooth and bright, consisting

of water ice crisscrossed by long, linear
fractures.

• Like our planet, Europa is thought to have

an iron core, a rocky mantle and an ocean
of salty water beneath its ice crust.

The moon Europa

• One of Galileo’s mission showed how Jupiter's

magnetic field was disrupted in the space
around Europa.

• This measurement strongly implied that a

special type of magnetic field is being created
within Europa by a deep layer of some
electrically conductive fluid beneath the
surface.

• Based on Europa's icy composition, scientists

think the most likely material to create this
magnetic signature is a global ocean of salty
water.

The moon Europa

• In 2013, NASA announced startling evidence

from researchers using the Hubble Space
Telescope that Europa might be actively
venting plumes of water into space.

• This is evidence that the moon is geologically

active in the present day.

The spots and pits visible in this region of Europa's northern
hemisphere are each about 6 miles across. The dark spots
are called "lenticulae," the Latin term for freckles.

Europa

Multiple Choice

This moon orbits Jupiter and is dotted with active volcanoes as a result of being stretched by Jupiter's gravitational pull.

What moon is this?

• Ganymede

• Mimas

• Io

• Enceladus

Callisto

The moon Callisto

• Callisto is the third largest moon in our solar

system and is almost the size of Mercury.

• Callisto is the outermost moon of Jupiter,

and orbits beyond Jupiter's main radiation
belts.

• Its interior is probably similar to Ganymede

except the inner rocky core is smaller, and
this core is surrounded by a large icy mantle.

Open Ended

What is the surface of the moon Callisto like? Write a sentence.

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/io/overview/#otp_introduction