In the SkyLesson 5

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Clues

An outer planet

Is entirely made of hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, water, and other gases

It takes 12 years to revolve around the sun, but its day is the shortest of any planet--10 hours!

For nearly 400 years, a huge hurricane has raged on its surface. This hurricane is twice the size of Earth and is known as The Great Red Spot.

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This planet has 67 moons, two about the size of Mercury.

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The Juno spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter on July 4, 2016.

It was launched August 5, 2011.

It is able to generate solar power from Jupiter’s neighborhood, by avoiding Jupiter’s shadow and

other things. Other spacecraft to Jupiter have relied on nuclear power.

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Where is Voyager now?

Voyager 1 was launched Sept. 1977 and flew by Jupiter and Saturn before continuing to interstellar space. It entered interstellar space in August 2012. It left our solar system behind, and is now streaking toward an encounter with a star called AC +79 3888 which lies 17.6 light-years from Earth. It is expected to reach it in 40,000 years.

It is still sending back scientific information through the Deep Space Network, but it will stop doing so around 2025, when its generators will no longer supply enough energy to power its instruments.

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Voyager 2 launched August 20, 1977.

Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune and is the only spacecraft to have visited them.

It takes 14 hours for a message from Earth to get to Voyager 2.

Both Voyagers have enough electrical power and thruster fuel to operate at least until 2020. Then they are destined to wander the Milky Way.

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Each Voyager space probe carries a gold-plated audio-visual disc. The disc carries photos of the Earth and its lifeforms, a range of scientific information, spoken greetings from people such as the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the President of the United States and a medley, “Sounds of Earth,” that includes the sounds of whales, a baby crying, waves breaking on a shore, and a collection of music. The record also contains greetings in fifty-five different languages.

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Jupiter is the largest and most massive planet in our solar

system, containing more than twice the amount of material of the other bodies orbiting

our sun combined. Its gravity is 20,000 times that of Earth.

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Jupiter's appearance is a tapestry of colorful cloud bands and spots. Most visible clouds are composed of ammonia and ammonia

compounds, with unknown chemicals providing color. Jupiter's fast rotation - spinning once every 10 hours - creates

strong jet streams, smearing its clouds into bands across the planet.

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