Planet
Jupiter
The giant with the shortest day, ruling a miniature solar system.
Jupiter spins faster than any other planet, turning once in under 10 hours, and that rapid spin stretches its clouds into belts and zones. It takes nearly 12 Earth years to orbit the Sun. Its axis is tilted only about 3 degrees, so its seasons are mild.
How it moves
- Jupiter rotates once every 9.925 hours, the shortest day of any planet.
- It orbits the Sun every 4,332.6 days (11.86 Earth years) at an average of 13.06 km/s.
- Its axis is tilted only 3.13 degrees, so Jupiter spins nearly upright with little seasonal change.
- Earth passes Jupiter every 398.88 days (synodic period), when Jupiter shows its yearly retrograde loop in our sky.
- Its four large Galilean moons orbit like a miniature solar system, with the inner three locked in a 1:2:4 rhythm.
Facts
- Mean radius
- 69,911 km
- Mass
- 1.898e+27 kg
- Surface gravity
- 25.92 m/s²
- Rotation period
- 9.925 hours
- Orbital period
- 4,332.589 days
- Average distance from the Sun
- 5.20336301 AU
- Eccentricity
- 0.0487
- Axial tilt
- 3.13°
- Mean orbital speed
- 13.06 km/s
- Known moons
- 115
- Discovered
- Known since antiquity
Jupiter's day lasts only about 9.9 hours, the shortest of any planet.
Sources: nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov, science.nasa.gov, science.nasa.gov