Jupiter
Jupiter is the 5th planet outward from our sun. It is large, containing about 2/3 of all the planetary mass in our solar system and measures about 88,000 miles in diameter. Made mostly of hydrogen, it contains some helium and has a small rocky core. Jupiter rotates rapidly, about once every 10 hours and takes about 12 years to orbit the sun at a distance of 5 A.U. It has more than 60 moons but only 4 of them are large, one being even larger than the planet Mercury. Colors near the top of Jupiter's outer layers are caused by small amounts of orange and brown compounds making it possible to observe the Great Red Spot, a storm that has persisted for hundreds of years.
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| Taken March 3, 2005 with Nikon D-100. 1/200 sec at ISO 1600. |