What Does Jupiter Mean

The planet Jupiter has been known to man for thousands of years. It can easily be seen with the unaided eye since it is the third brightest object in the night sky. The Romans named the planet after their principal god. So, what does Jupiter mean? Jupiter is meant to equate strength. He was the king of the Roman gods and controlled the sky and thunder. He ruled over laws and social order. The accepted symbol for the planet is a stylized lightening bolt.

Jupiter is by far the largest planet in our solar system by mass. It is 2.5 more massive than all of the remaining planets combined. It is primarily composed of hydrogen, but a quarter of its mass is helium. Some scientists think that it has a rocky core containing heavier elements. The fast rotation of the planet has turned it into an oblate spheroid. The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands and there is a great deal of turbulence and storms along their boundaries. A well known storm is called the Great Red Spot. This is an extensive storm that has been observed since the 17th century. Jupiter is one of several planets with a ring system. The largest moon, Ganymede, has a larger diameter than Mercury.

Jupiter has been explored on several occasions. The Pioneer, Voyager, and Galileo probes have flown by and and orbited the Jovian spheroid. Recently, the New Horizons mission to Pluto stopped by Jupiter for a short time in 2007. As it flew by it used Jupiter’s gravity as a short of slingshot to increase its speed towards its final destination. There are more planned missions to the planet as well as at least one of its moons(Europa).

Scientists have speculated that there is a remote possibility of life on Jupiter or some of its moons. It would not be like anything on Earth because of the high amounts of hydrogen, helium, and methane. Extremophiles exist in relatively similar conditions on the ocean floors and near volcanoes here on Earth, so it is possible that amino acid based life or simple bacteria may exist somewhere within the Jovian system. Maybe future missions will tell us more.

We have written many articles about Jupiter for Universe Today. Here are some interesting facts about Jupiter, and here’s an article about the color of Jupiter.

If you’d like more information on Jupiter, check out Hubblesite’s News Releases about Jupiter, and here’s a link to NASA’s Solar System Exploration Guide to Jupiter.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast just about Jupiter. Listen here, Episode 56: Jupiter.

Reference:
NASA

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