Jupiter: The Giant Planet

This book is a useful overview of what we know about Jupiter. Anyone interested in Jupiter will find it readable. And some of the information will appeal to specialists as well. An introduction gives a short history of observations of the planet, including the robotic missions of Pioneer and Voyager. After that, there is a chapter on Jupiter's atmosphere and another on the famous Red Spot. Beebe then tells about the problems in modeling the interior of the rapidly rotating Jupiter. And we find out more about modeling of the upper atmosphere. I was intrigued by the part about spectrographic measurements of the hydrogen and helium in Jupiter's atmosphere. You see, spectrographic analysis gave a mass ratio of 21% to 22% of Helium in the Jovian atmosphere. But Beebe tells us that the Galileo Probe in situ observation was more like 25% Helium. That is actually important. It turns out that a very straightforward calculation of Big Bang nucleosynthesis predicts a minimum of 23% to 24% primordial Helium in the universe. The percentage of Helium in Jupiter ought to be a little higher than the primordial one. So it could be that the Big Bang calculation of 23% to 24% is indeed right on the money. On top of that, as Beebe points out, the Probe results could confirm that there is enough mixing in the upper Jovian atmosphere to prevent much Helium from separating out and falling to lower elevations. Beebe continues with a description of Jupiter's satellites and ring. By the way, I would like to point out that many more satellites of Jupiter have been discovered since her book was written. Those discovered in 2000 include Kalyke, Harpalyke, Isonoe, Taygete, Themisto, Praxidike, and Magaclite. Those discovered in 2001 include Aitne, Hermippe, Eurydome, Thyone, Autonoe, and Euanthe. Several more were discovered in each of those two years. By early 2004, a total of 63 satellites of Jupiter had been found. The author then briefly describes the Jovian magnetosphere. And she concludes by discussing the Shoemaker-Levy comet collisions with Jupiter and the results from the Galileo Probe. I recommend this book.