79 m/s2.
Semi-major axis: 7.79 x 108 km (5.2 AU).
Orbital Period: 11.86 Earth years.
Sidereal Rotation Period: 0.41 Earth days (9.9 hours).
Surface Temperature: -148 °C.
(-234 °F/125 K).
Source: Wikipedia contributors. "Jupiter." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Composition.
Jupiter is unlike the rocky terrestrial (inner) of planets such as Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Jupiter is a ball of dense gas and has no solid surface. It may have a core composed of rock-forming minerals like those trapped in comet ices, but the core makes up less than five percent of the planet's mass (Jupiter"). Gas and clouds in Jupiter's atmosphere travel at high speeds. These gases and clouds travel faster at the equator than at higher latitudes. Jupiter's outer layer, composed of a gaseous mixture of hydrogen, helium, and traces of other compounds, is about 600 miles thick. Jupiter is about 75% hydrogen and 25% helium by mass with traces of methane, water, ammonia, and "rock"(Jupiter"). This is close to the composition of the primordial Solar Nebula from which the entire solar system was formed.
Atmosphere.
The atmosphere of Jupiter is composed mainly of hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia. It appears that the atmosphere is divided into a number of light and dark bands, which are parallel to its equator, and shows a range of complex features (see Figure 3), including an ongoing storm called the Great Red Spot. The Great Red Spot was first detected by Robert Hooke in 1664. It has been present in Jupiter's atmosphere for more than 300 years. Modern astronomers have concluded that it is a vast storm, spinning like a cyclone. The Red Spot rotates in a counterclockwise direction in the southern hemisphere, showing that it is a high-pressure system. Winds inside this great storm reach speeds of about 270 mph and it is the largest known storm in the Solar System (Harvey).
