NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Jupiter is the largest of the planets in our solar system. The large planet has a mass equal to 317.8 earth masses and has a diameter of 142,984km, or about 11.2 earth diameters. Jupiter mostly consists of Hydrogen and Helium, much of which is in the liquid state because of the tremendous pressure of the outer gas layers. Jupiter is the home of the solar system's largest storm, the Great Red Spot. The storm is similar to a hurricane, but the storm is 26,000km long and 14,000km wide and has never stopped since its discovery in 1831.
At least 63 moons orbit Jupiter, the largest ones being Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Io is the moon closest to Jupiter, which causes it to be extremely geologically active. The large tidal forces created by Jupiter on Io cause the moon's interior to constantly reheat itself. The entire body is covered by active volcanoes. The next large moon out is Europa, which is a very interesting place to look for life in our own solar system. The surface of the moon appears to be water ice on top of liquid water with a thin Oxygen atmosphere. The liquid water is perhaps sustained from heat due to tidal forces from Jupiter. The third large moon out from Jupiter is Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system. The moon is even larger than the planet Mercury. Ganymede also has a thin Oxygen atmosphere surrounding a layer of ice, and is the only moon to have a global magnetosphere. The final large Jovian moon is Callisto. This moon is the third largest moon in the solar system, behind Ganymede and Titan. Callisto is not at all geologically active, but does have a weak magnetosphere.
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