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In Depth. This site is maintained by the Planetary Science Communications team at and for . NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.
The composition of Jupiter is similar to that of the Sun – mostly hydrogen and helium. Deep in the atmosphere, pressure and temperature increase, compressing the hydrogen gas into a liquid. This gives Jupiter the largest ocean in the solar system – an ocean made of hydrogen instead of water.
Europa’s surface is made of water ice and so it reflects 5.5 times the sunlight than our Moon does. Europa orbits Jupiter at about 417,000 miles (671,000 kilometers) from the planet, which itself orbits the Sun at a distance of roughly 500 million miles (780 million kilometers), or 5.2 astronomical units (AU).
Pictures from the Voyager spacecraft in the 1980s indicated that although this moon is small—only about 310 miles (500 kilometers) across—its icy surface is remarkably smooth in some places, and bright white all over. In fact, it’s the most reflective body in the solar system.
Jupiter. Twice as massive as all the other planets combined. NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.
Oct 1, 2024 · The distance from the center of an object to its equator. The outer or uppermost part of a planet, moon, asteroid, comet or other body. The gravitational acceleration experienced at its surface at the equator. The speed needed for an object to break away from the gravitational pull of a planet or moon.
Of the terrestrial (rocky) planets of the inner solar system, neither Mercury nor Venus have any moons at all, Earth has one and Mars has its two small moons. In the outer solar system, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune have dozens of moons.
Feb 28, 2006 · The presence of methane in Titan's atmosphere is one of the major enigmas that the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn's system is trying to resolve, they noted. Scientists have long known that Titan's atmosphere contains methane, ethane, acetylene and many other hydrocarbon compounds.
Oct 1, 2024 · NASA HEAT. Europa is one of the largest of Jupiter’s more than 90 moons. It's the sixth-closest moon to the planet.
Exploring Jupiter. Nine spacecraft have visited Jupiter. Seven flew by and two have orbited the gas giant. Juno, the most recent, arrived at Jupiter in 2016. 09.
