The fifth planet from the sun and the largest and most massive planet in the solar system, Jupiter. Jupiter is so large in fact that you could fit every other planet in the solar system inside of it and still have room left over. Jupiter belongs to a class of planet called a gas giant. Jupiter is composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with smaller amounts of other elements such as sulphur, which are likely responsible for the reddish and brownish colours in Jupiters upper atmosphere. Jupiter rotates once every 10 hours. The fast rotation of Jupiter creates the long bands we see in Jupiters atmosphere. This rapid rotation generates enormous coriolis forces that deflect Jupiters weather systems, causing them to wrap around the planet and form the bands we see surrounding Jupiter.
Beneath about 600 miles of Jupiter’s atmosphere, the pressure becomes so great that the hydrogen is compressed into a liquid form, turning Jupiters interior into an ocean of liquid hydrogen. Deeper still, the pressure becomes so great that the hydrogen splits into electrically charged ions, which forms an ocean of liquid metallic hydrogen. This ocean generates huge electric fields that produces a massive magnetic field around Jupiter. Jupiter’s magnetic field is so large that it stretches nearly all the way to Saturn. Material from the solar wind is drawn in by Jupiter’s magnetic field, producing spectacular aurorae, which can be seen in the image above.
Astronomers are still unsure whether or not Jupiter has a solid core. If Jupiter does have a solid core, it’s likely no larger than the Earth, and likely plays no significant or relevant role in what happens in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere. The pressures are so great within Jupiter’s interior that it would be virtually impossible to send any kind of spacecraft to find out if Jupiter really does have a solid core or not. This may perhaps remain a mystery forever. (Second comment below 👇👇👇) by astrophysics_