Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, may have been responsible for a mysterious age gap in the early solar system's planet building blocks. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Tanya ... Jupiter's Red Spot is one of the most iconic features of the gas giant and a prevailing point in many of the photos we have of the largest planet within our solar system.

Understanding the Context

But the Red Spot's age ... Beautiful images and scientific facts about the tempestuous gas giant Jupiter, the biggest planet in our Solar System. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system (so large, in fact, that some scientists think it might have even consumed other worlds), a gas giant so massive that it shaped the orbits and ... Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun, and the largest in the Solar System.

Key Insights

It is a gas giant with a mass nearly 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined and slightly less than one-thousandth the mass of the Sun. Jupiter is a world of extremes. It's the largest planet in our solar system – if it were a hollow shell, 1,000 Earths could fit inside. It's also the oldest planet, forming from the dust and gases left over from the Sun's formation 4.6 billion years ago. Jupiter, the most massive planet of the solar system and the fifth in distance from the Sun.

Final Thoughts

It is one of the brightest objects in the night sky; only the Moon, Venus, and sometimes Mars are more brilliant. Jupiter is designated by the symbol ♃. Jupiter is one of the brightest "stars" in the night sky and the largest planet in the Solar System. You can easily find this gas giant even in the light-polluted skies. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. Discover facts, structure, moons, rings, missions, and role in protecting Earth.

Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, is twice as massive as every other object in our Solar System combined (except the Sun). Jupiter's four planet-like moons have features like volcanoes and subsurface oceans, making Jupiter a miniature planetary system of its own. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and the fifth planet from the sun. The gas giant has a long, rich, history of surprising scientists.