The Outer Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

The Outer Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune — page 1
he most distant and perhaps most intriguing planets in our solar sys tem are known as the outer planets Jupiter Saturn Uranus and Neptune Of these bodies ancient astronomers could see only bright Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky Thanks to deep space probes and con stantly improving Earth based observational technology scientists today are steadily unraveling mysteries about the planets their moons and their rings This book takes you on a journey to the most remote planets in our solar system Our first destination is Jupiter the larg est planet in the solar system It is so big that more than 1 300 Earths could fit inside it It is the fifth planet from the Sun but bright enough that we can see its multicol ored stripes with only a small telescope Also visible is a red oval called the Great Red Spot which is a storm in Jupiter's atmo sphere that has been going on for more than 300 years Jupiter s surface and interior are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium The planet has 63 known moons and a nar row system of rings Its orbit is elliptical oval and one orbit is equal to about 1 86 Earth years IO