The Jovian Planets

Ranging between 4.95 and 30.4 AU away from the Sun are the Jovian planets. Jovian means of or relating to either the planet or the mythological god, Jupiter. The Jovian planets, also referred to as gas giants, are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These planets all fit the category of being a Jovian planet due to the mutual inclusiveness of a thick atmosphere composed of hydrogen and helium. These planets are not solid, they only become denser further towards the core. The inner structure of the planet have traces of metals, water, methane and ammonia although it's possible Neptune and Uranus have liquid cores. There are many moons that orbit and many rings that encircle each planet. Their masses are incredibly high numbers, the Jovians total about 98% of the mass of all the planets in our Solar System, Jupiter alone near 75%. To scale these masses, a Jovian planet is fifteen to almost three hundred twenty times greater in mass than Earth.

Jupiter is by far the largest Jovian planet in addition to overall largest planet in the Solar System. It is nearly three hundred twenty times the mass of Earth and the fifth planet from the Sun. Jupiter, discovered in ancient times, was named after the Roman god, Jupiter or Jove, ruler of all of Olympus. Jupiter is characterized by bright orange coloring and a large red circle, the Great Red Spot. The Great Red Spot is an enormous hurricane-like storm that has been tearing through the planet for hundreds of years with no signs of stopping. A level five hurricane on Earth is miniscule compared to this giant cyclone, the storm alone is double the size of Earth. In addition to the Great Red Spot, there are many smaller hurricanes, the one of most important being Red Junior, a newly discovered, large hurricane.

Jupiter has sixty-seven moons and three rings. The four largest moons, Europa, Io, Ganymede and Callisto, were discovered by Galileo in 1610. Ganymede, at almost one third of all the masses of the moons of Jupiter combined, is the largest, followed by Callisto, Io, and then Europa. These moons combined weigh in at a mass so large, its more than 99% of all the moons of Jupiter. The rings of Jupiter are confusing, they encircle the planet as one ring but consist of three major parts with one breaking down into two smaller portions. The inner ring, the Halo, is 14,000 miles wide and a transparent light color and the main ring with a pink coloring, is only 4,000 miles wide. The outside rings are the Gossamer rings, yellow and green coloring, and about 53,000 miles wide; the Gossamer rings consist of the Amalthea and the Thebe rings. Currently the planet is orbited by Juno, an orbiter created by NASA.

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the entire Solar System. The planet is named after the Greek god of agriculture, liberation, and time. It's known for its intricate rings and is the easiest planet to be seen from Earth due to its brightness and recognizable greenish coloring. Because it is one of the five planets that can be seen with the naked eye, there is no true discoverer, it was observed as early as ancient times. Galileo, in 1610, was the first observer of Saturn's rings, what he believed to be moons; forty-five years later, Huygens discerned they were in fact rings, not moons.

Saturn is best known for its incredibly intricate rings made of icy particles. How many rings does Saturn have? That is impossible to answer, there are certain segments of rings and recognized rings as well as the rings currently being discovered by NASA's Cassini. The three major segments of rings are A, B, and C, as well as the Cassini Division, an area between ring segments that are void of rings. Right after the A section is the F section and outside the C section are the D, G, E, and more. The D through F sections are referred to as dusty rings. On top of all that are other rings, the Janus, the Methone Ring Arc, the Anthe Ring Arc, the Pallene, and the Roche Division, which brings the count of rings to twelve, as well as two divisions. They continue to divide into more and more gaps and rings; some of which that have the ability to disappear and reappear. In addition to Saturn's dozens of rings, it's orbited by sixty moons. The majority of these moons are so small they would be considered comets if they weren't in orbit.

Uranus, the third largest planet in the solar system, was the first planet to ever be discovered with a telescope. The earliest recordings of the planet date back to 1690 by John Flamsteed, only thought to be a star at the time. In the late eighteenth century, it was spotted again by William Herschel, again catalogued as a nebulous star or comet; Herschel received full credit from Jean-Dominique Cassini, whom recognized it as a planet, and has remained with credit since them. It's