Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system shines brightly in the nighttime sky. Named after the supreme Roman God, Jupiter is an appropriate name for a planet of massive size; about eleven times Earth’s diameter; and numerous raging storms. In Roman mythology, Jupiter is the God that overthrew his tyrannical father, Saturn, and quickly took his place as the supreme ruler of the heavens. Many Roman temples were erected in honor of Jupiter, the God of storms, truth, justice and order. However, no one individual from ancient times can claim that they were the discoverer of the bright giant Jupiter. It was the combined efforts of individuals over time that helped unravel the mysteries of Jupiter.
The year of 1610 Galileo Galilei took his telescope to peer up at Jupiter, what he saw there was what looked like to be four stars near the bright disk of Jupiter. Galileo quickly realized that these “stars” were actually moons that orbited Jupiter. This discovery was not only important for Jupiter as a planet, but this revelation also provided important evidence in support of the Copernican model of the solar system. The four moons that Galileo observed are now called the Galilean moons of Jupiter: Callisto, Ganymede, Europa, and Io. The next big discovery to happen to Jupiter was in the 1660s. Through his telescope, Giovanni Cassini noticed spots and bands …show more content…
It is planned in the year 2020 to spend multiple spacecrafts to further investigate Jupiter and its moons. The mission plan is to send two spacecrafts to orbit the Galilean moons of Europa and Ganymede. These spacecrafts are planned to be launch in 2020 and reach Jupiter in 2026, where they’ll orbit, and observe Jupiter and the moons for three years. The mission’s success could bring to light new information about the planet’s core and atmosphere, along with furthering our understanding or the moons that orbit the gaseous giant,