Why is Jupiter called a gas planet?

Let's take an imaginary trip to the center of Jupiter. Get into your spacecraft, buckle those seatbelts, and let's see what you find!

First, you could look at many colored clouds. You could see orange, white, yellow, and ev en pink clouds there. These clouds are part of Jupiter's thick atmosphere. The atmosphere is made of up gases. It is much bigger than the Earth's atmosphere! This is the reason that Jupiter was first called a gas planet.

If you made it through the clouds and any storms that happened to be stirring at the time, you'd come to a big layer of liquids. If you got your windshield wipers going hard enough to make it through all of those liquids, you'd come to a small core made up of ice and rock. You could camp here for the night or you could stop by one of Jupiter's many moons!

Submitted by Courtney (Oregon, USA)
(August 20,1997)



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