This is an image of Jupiter.
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Dr. Micheal Belton
An Overview of Jupiter's Atmosphere
Jupiter, the king of planets is named very well because it not only has the most powerful winds and storms, but also the most majestic cloud patterns.
Jupiter looks very colorful because Jupiter is made of some colorful molecules such as sulfur.
The atmosphere of Jupiter, is only a narrow layer, compared to Jupiter's vast insides. The clouds of Jupiter are at different levels in the atmosphere. There is even smog on Jupiter!
Jupiter is not much changed from the early days when it formed, unlike the Earth which has changed a lot since it formed.
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The giant planets have definitely changed since their formation. But how much remains to be seen. Most of the original air of the giant planets remains in place. (The earth-like planets lost most of their
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On Jupiter, the winds in the belts and zones blow first in one direction, then in the opposite direction. Wind blows east in a belt, and west in a zone. The clouds rise up in a belt, and drop down in a
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The striped cloud bands on Jupiter are certainly not as straight as they appear to be in this picture! The picture shows that the striped pattern is divided into belts and zones. The belts and zones of
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The Great Red Spot is thought to be a hurricane which has been raging on Jupiter for at least 400 years. The connected page shows an image of the Great Red Spot next to Tropical Storm Emily for comparison.
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The position of the planets in the solar nebula affected how big they became and what they were made of. The blue line in the picture shows where it became so cold that ice began to form. Planets that
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As shown in this picture, while they were forming in the solar nebula, the core of the planets-to-be drew material to themselves from the cloud of gas and dust around them. The bigger planets-to-be were
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The mesosphere of Jupiter is a region of balance between warming and cooling. That essentially means that nothing happens there. Except for diffusion, the atmosphere is still. Upper reaches of the atmosphere,
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