Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun, and the largest in the solar system – more than twice as massive as the other planets combined.

10 Things About Jupiter

Explore Jupiter Facts

Artist's concept showing how Earth easily fits inside Jupiter's Great Red Spot

1. The Biggest

For scale, Jupiter's Great Red Spot is about the size of Earth.

Spacecraft between two nosecone rocket farings.

2. Fifth From the Sun

Jupiter's distance from the Sun is 5.2 times the Earth-Sun distance.

3. Short and Long

Jupiter's day lasts only 10 Earth hours; its year is 12 Earth years.

4. Nowhere to Land

As a gas giant, Jupiter has no solid surface. It may have an Earth-sized core.

5. Big and Light

Jupiter's atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium.

illustration of spacecraft at europa with jupiter in background

8. Exploration

Seven robots flew past; two stayed in orbit.

artist's visualization of Jupiter's Magnetosphere

9. Ingredients for Life?

Jupiter can't support life as we know it.

10. Super Storm

The Great Red Spot is a storm that has raged for more than 100 years.

Facts About Jupiter

Jupiter is a world of extremes. It's the largest planet in our solar system. If Jupiter was a hollow shell, 1,000 Earths could fit inside.

Jupiter also is the oldest planet, forming from the dust and gases left over from the Sun's formation 4.5 billion years ago. But it has the shortest day in the solar system, taking only 10.5 hours to spin around once on its axis.

A view of Jupiter's Great Red Spot and colorful cloud bands of tan, brown, white, and orange as seen from the Juno spacecraft.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft took three images of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot on Feb. 12, 2019, that were used to create this color-enhanced view.

Enhanced image by Kevin M. Gill (CC-BY) based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS

Exploring Jupiter

The first detailed observations of Jupiter were made by Galileo Galilei in 1610 with a small, homemade telescope.

More recently, this planet has been studied by orbiters, probes, and spacecraft passing by on their way to other worlds. NASA’s Juno spacecraft currently is studying the giant planet from orbit. Europa Clipper will launch in October 2024 to study Jupiter's icy moon, Europa.

A rocket shoots out bright yellowish flames as it lifts the Juno spacecraft into the blue skies over Cape Canaveral. Florida. Plumes of smoke swell beneath the rocket and spacecraft. Three towers surround the launch pad.

NASA's Juno spacecraft launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Aug. 5, 2011.

NASA/Bill Ingalls

Moons of Jupiter

Jupiter has 95 moons that have been officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union.

But the number doesn't capture the complexity of the Jovian system of moons, rings and asteroids. The giant planet has thousands of small objects in its orbit.

This is a composite of the Jovian system and includes the edge of Jupiter with its Great Red Spot and Jupiter’s four largest moons.

This "family portrait" composite of the Jovian system includes the edge of Jupiter with its Great Red Spot, and Jupiter's four largest moons, known as the Galilean satellites. From top to bottom, the moons shown are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

NASA

Jupiter Resources

Explore a curated collection of Jupiter resources, including activities that can be done at home, as well as videos, animations, posters, and online interactives.

These resources are suitable for educators, students, and anyone interested in learning more about Jupiter!

A crescent view of Jupiter with its bands of beige, and orange clouds. The Great Red Spot in the right, bottom corner.

NASA's Juno spacecraft saw this striking vista during a close flyby of Jupiter.

NASA

Eyes on the Solar System lets you explore the planets, their moons, asteroids, and comets.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Jupiter Stories

Explore All Jupiter Stories

Article

4 min read

NASA Selects Students for Europa Clipper Intern Program

Artist’s rendering of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft.

Article

6 min read

NASA’s Juno Gives Aerial Views of Mountain, Lava Lake on Io

4 min read

Media Get Close-Up of NASA’s Jupiter-Bound Europa Clipper

Article3 weeks ago

5 min read

NASA’s Europa Clipper Survives and Thrives in ‘Outer Space’ on Earth

Article1 month ago

min read

Sending “Water” to Europa

Image Article

Jupiter

14 Images

Go To Gallery

This image captures Jupiter's North Temperate Belt. It was taken October 16, 2021, as NASA's Juno spacecraft performed its 37th close flyby of Jupiter.

Against a pitch-black background, a giant sphere covered in alternating horizontal bands of pale orange and light bluish-gray fills two-thirds of the image, and extends beyond the frame to the upper right. An orange swirl, the shape of an eye, is at its center. A much smaller sphere – less than a tenth the size of just the orange swirl – is at center left, in shades of orange, gray and blue.

This animation depicts Jupiter's planet wrapping cloud structure, commonly referred to as belts and zones, and the jet streams that encompass them.

Jupiter, its Great Red Spot and three of its four largest satellites are visible in this photo taken Feb. 5, 1979, by Voyager 1. Io, Europa, and Callisto are seen against Jupiter disk.

The planet Jupiter is seen against black space. At the planet's northern pole, its aurorae are seen as a bright blue whirl of light.

Satellite Footprints Seen in Jupiter Aurora

Jupiter's banded appearance is created by the cloud-forming weather layer. This composite image shows views of Jupiter in infrared and visible light taken by the Gemini North telescope and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

Go To Gallery

Learn More

For Kids: All About Jupiter
Facts about Jupiter for kids.
Jupiter Resource Package
Activities that can be done at home, as well as videos, animations, posters, and online interactives.
NASA Photojournal: Jupiter
NASA database of images and videos of scientific interest.

Missions to Jupiter

Pioneer 10
NASA's first spacecraft to visit the outer planets, Pioneer 10 was designed as a 21-month mission to Jupiter, yet lasted more than 30 years.
Explore
Pioneer 11
The sister spacecraft to Pioneer 10, it flew even closer to Jupiter in 1974 than its sibling had, passing while en route to its destination, Saturn.
Explore
Voyager 1
After it arrived at Jupiter in 1979, Voyager 1 discovered a thing ring around the planet, two new moons, and active volcanoes on the volatile moon Io, before continuing on to Saturn and interstellar space.
Explore
Voyager 2
Voyager 2 reached Jupiter a few months after is sibling, capturing images and data of the planet's clouds, moons, and rings, and detecting changes to the iconic Great Red Spot, during the first leg of its Grand Tour of the outer planets.
Explore
Galileo
During Galileo's 34 orbits of Jupiter, it gathered unprecedented data on the planet's atmosphere, magnetosphere, and evolution. Galileo also observed a comet crash into Jupiter, and while studying its moons discovered evidence of a subsurface ocean on Europa, Ganymede's unique magnetic field, and unparalleled volcanic activity on Io.
Explore
Juno
In orbit around Jupiter since 2016, Juno is probing beneath the planet's dense clouds to answer questions about its origin and evolution, and is scheduled to continue investigating the solar system’s largest planet, its moons, faint rings, and surrounding environment through September 2025.
Explore
Europa Clipper
NASA's next mission to Jupiter, Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch in 2024 and reach the planet in 2030. Then – during 50 flybys of Jupiter's icy moon Europa – investigate whether there are places below Europa’s surface that could support life.
Explore