A full-globe view of Jupiter against the darkness of space

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.

All About Jupiter

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

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

Spacecraft between two nosecone rocket farings.

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

clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere

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

lighting flashes at jupiter's pole

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

Color-enhanced view of Jupiter

Jupiter's atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium.

illustration of spacecraft at europa with jupiter in background

As of July 2023, Jupiter had 95 moons.

Backlit ring of Jupiter

The rings were spotted in 1979.

Illustration of the tri-winged spacecraft over the planet Jupiter, which is tan and white striped

Seven robots flew past; two stayed in orbit.

artist's visualization of Jupiter's Magnetosphere

Jupiter can't support life as we know it.

Ammonia Ice near Jupiter Great Red Spot

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

Planet Jupiter Overview

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

Jupiter's stripes and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than Earth that has raged for hundreds of years.

Jupiter is named for the king of the ancient Roman gods.​

Eyes on the Solar System lets you explore the planets, their moons, asteroids, and comets.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Jupiter in Pop Culture

The biggest planet in our solar system has a large presence in pop culture, including many movies, TV shows, video games, and comics. Jupiter and its moons were notable destinations in "The Expanse" series, while various Jovian moons provide settings for "Cloud Atlas," "Futurama," "Power Rangers," and "Halo," among many others. In the movie "Men in Black" when Agent J – played by Will Smith – mentions he thought one of his childhood teachers was from Venus, Agent K – played by Tommy Lee Jones – replies that she is actually from one of Jupiter’s moons.

Missions to Jupiter

  • Mariner 10

    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.

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  • Fuzzy color image of Jupiter

    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.

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  • An animated GiF shows Jupiter moving closer, its clouds, rotating in this montage of Voyager shots.

    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.

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  • Against a black background, an enormous sphere in various shades of orange fills most of the frame and extends beyond the picture, to the left, top, and bottom. Ribbons of different shades of orange and white circle the planet horizontally, some looking like they were folded ver on themselves repeatedly, like hard ribbon candy. The most prominent featue is a large swirl of deep orange at the center of the frame, looking like it's spinning clockwise.

    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.

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  • Glowing lava fills a crevice in this close up view of the surface of volcanic Io.

    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.

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