Gas Giant · Updated May 2026
Jupiter.
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system — a gas giant with more than twice the mass of all the other planets combined and a diameter of 139,820 km. Its banded cloud structure rotates faster than any other planet (one rotation every 9h 56m), driving the jet streams that produce the bands and the centuries-old storm called the Great Red Spot. Jupiter has 95 confirmed moons as of 2024, including the four Galilean satellites visible in any small telescope.
Open Jupiter in the viewer →Key facts
Earth would fit inside Jupiter roughly 1,321 times. The Great Red Spot alone — currently about 16,000 km across — is wider than Earth, and at one point in the 1800s it was three times that size. In the viewer the four Galilean moons orbit at real relative speeds: Io completes a full lap while Callisto barely moves.
Atmosphere
90% hydrogen, 10% helium, with traces of methane, ammonia, and water. The visible cloud bands sit in the upper troposphere — light "zones" of rising ammonia ice and dark "belts" of descending material. Wind speeds reach 400 km/h. Jupiter radiates 1.6× more energy than it receives from the Sun, leftover heat from its formation.
Surface
Jupiter has no surface in any meaningful sense. Falling inward, the gaseous atmosphere gradually compresses into a supercritical fluid, then into a layer of metallic hydrogen — hydrogen squeezed so hard that electrons free themselves and the substance conducts electricity like a metal.
Interior
A small rocky / icy core (more dilute than once thought, per Juno data) surrounded by metallic hydrogen, then liquid hydrogen, then the gaseous envelope. The metallic hydrogen layer drives the most powerful planetary magnetic field in the solar system — 14× Earth's at the cloud tops.
Formation
Likely formed by core accretion within the protoplanetary disc 4.5 billion years ago, growing massive enough to capture huge amounts of hydrogen and helium directly from the disc gas before that gas dispersed.
Orbit
Average distance from the Sun: 778.5 million km (5.20 AU). Orbital period 11.86 years. Low orbital eccentricity (0.049) and a small 3.13° tilt.
Major moons
- Io — Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System. Its surface is covered with sulfur in various colorful forms.
- Europa — Europa has a smooth icy surface hiding a subsurface ocean. It is considered one of the most likely places to find extraterrestrial life.
- Ganymede — Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System, even larger than Mercury. It has its own magnetic field.
- Callisto — Callisto is the most heavily cratered object in the Solar System. It may also harbor a subsurface ocean.
Notable missions
- Voyager 1 & 2 (1979 · Past flyby) — Discovered Jupiter's rings and the active volcanism on Io.
- Galileo (1995–2003 · Past) — First Jupiter orbiter; deployed an atmospheric probe.
- Juno (2016– · Active) — Polar orbit gathering data on the deep interior, magnetic field, and auroras.
- JUICE / Europa Clipper (2023 / 2024 · En route) — ESA's JUICE and NASA's Europa Clipper are both en route to study the icy moons; Clipper arrives 2030.
How to view Jupiter in 3D
This page is part of an interactive 3D solar system viewer built with Three.js, WebGL 2.0, and custom GLSL shaders. Jupiter orbits the Sun in real time alongside every other planet, with adjustable time speed, scale sliders, and a fly mode that lets you pilot a spacecraft between bodies under realistic gravity.
Fly to Jupiter now →Frequently asked questions
Could Jupiter become a star?
No. It would need roughly 80× more mass to fuse hydrogen.
How many moons does Jupiter have?
95 confirmed as of 2024, and counting. Most are small irregular bodies.
Does Jupiter have rings?
Yes, but they are faint and made of dust kicked up by micrometeoroid impacts on the inner moons.
Sources & methodology
Numbers cross-referenced with the sources below; surface and atmosphere descriptions reflect findings as of May 2026. Renderings in the 3D viewer use textures based on Solar System Scope and NASA imagery.