Spark and Perl go looking
Bracing for landing!
Keep bracing.
…When do we land?
Never. There is no ground.
It is cloud all the way down, and the deeper you go the thicker it gets.
Then we sink all the way down and stop at the bottom.
There is no bottom.
…So it gets thicker until it is not cloud any more, it is liquid.
And there is never a moment when you land.
That is the whole of it. There is probably a core right at the bottom, but nothing you could stand on.
Why only probably?
Because nobody can look. A spacecraft flew round Jupiter and measured how hard Jupiter pulled on it in different places. That shows what is deep inside.
Is that red spot as big as my whole town?
It is as big as the whole of Earth, and slowly getting smaller.
We know it has been raging for centuries, and maybe far longer.
Yes — a bright, steady, creamy light.
It is up for most of the year: sometimes in the evening, sometimes towards morning.
You can see it from anywhere in the world — but not every night. Sometimes it is hiding in the light of the Sun.
Where to find Jupiter, and when
Where the Earth is clear, it climbs high in the sky. The darker it gets, the lower it stays. Where it is black, it never comes up. No shading at all: it does not matter where you live.
What do I need to see Jupiter?
You can see it with just your eyes.
Binoculars with 10× magnification show it, if you rest them on a fence or a wall.
And up to four tiny dots line up beside it. Those are moons.
A 150 mm telescope is what shows it properly. This picture is about 200× — which is what that telescope gives on a good night.
At that magnification it drifts out of view while you watch.
Put the planets in size orderPut the planets in orderJump the solar systemCould you stand on a planet or moon?Eyes, binoculars, or telescope?Which one does not belong?
Space
Put the planets in size order
Read on
Go and look