Jupiter: The Gas Giant

Jupiter is the big-gest planet in the Solar System. It is 1,300 times big-ger than the

Earth. Besides, it is twice as heavy as all the planets put together.

It is also known as the gas giant because about 90% of it is made of gases -hydrogen

and helium. At the centre is a small, rocky core which is as big as the

Earth. Such a huge planet might spin slowly, but Jupiter spins incredibly fast.

It completes its day in ten hours. At the equator, the speed of rotation is 45,259.5 km/hr,

which is more than 25 times faster than the Earth. The average distance of Jupiter from

the Sun is 778.33 million km. It takes it 11 years and 315 days to make one orbit.