Angel Falls or Kerepakupai merú (which means "waterfall of the deepest place", in Pemon language, or: Parakupa-vena, which means "the fall from the highest point"; Spanish: Salto Ángel). Angel Falls is located in the Guayana highlands,one of five topographical regions of Venezuela. It plunges off the edge of a "Tepuy", or table-top mountain, and free falls 2,421 feet to the river below, making it the tallest waterfalls on earth.

In total it is 15 times higher than Niagara Falls with a total of 2,937 feet.

The falls are named after Jimmy Angel, an adventurous bush pilot from Missouri (Used to fly with Lindbergh's Flying Circus), today a modern legend. Jimmy Angel first saw the falls in 1933 with McCracken while searching for a legendary Gold Ore.

Jimmy returned again in 1937 with his wife, Gustavo Henry, and Henry's gardener, they landed on top of the tepuy. Jimmy's Flamingo monoplane settled down into the marshy ground on top of the Auyantepuy and remained there for 33 years before being lifted out by a helicopter.

Jimmy Angel and his three companions managed to descend the tepuy and make their way back to civilization in 11 days.

Jimmy Angel's plane sits in the Aviation Museum in Maracay; the one you may be able to see on top of the Tepuy is a replica.

The fascinating world of the National park in Canaima, is a perfect combination of magic and reality, with their impressive table top mountains called Tepuys, their countless rivers, lagoons, and water falls, forests and savannas distributed as a green sea, this atmosphere calls for a unique visit at least once in a lifetime.

In this God's gift of the nature, you will find an interesting flora and fauna and endemic in many cases (unique in the World), likewise the natives of the Pemon Indians, ohabitant in this natural atmosphere, with their ancestral culture, craft, folklore, and gastronomy.

This natural mosaic shows us an interesting and alive testimony of our Geographical history.

The National Park Canaima is located to the end south west of Venezuela, to the south of the Orinoco River, municipality Gran Sabana of the Bolivar state, being decreed National park June 12, 1962 by the national executive.

The park, possesses 3 million Hectares, occupying this way the second protected natural area of more extension in Venezuela and the seventh of its size in the world.

The park is divided in two sectors: Western and Eastern.

The western area called Canaima, can be accessed by air with commercial Flights from Caracas, Margarita and Ciudad Bolivar.

Enjoying this privileged spot on earth, the tallest fall in the world, the incredible Angel Falls, from the Canaima Lagoon visualizes a spectacular scenario, with beautiful water falls inviting you for a refreshing swim or a sun bath on the beautiful white sand surrounding the Canaima Lagoon.

In the Eastern area you will find the Gran Sabana where again, can be accessed either by air but also by land transport. Arriving to the city of Santa Elena of Uairen, the last town of the south of Venezuela, only 20 minutes by car from the frontier with Brazil.

The Tallest non permanent waterfall in the world is in fact La Catira close to the Angel Falls.

Total Height: 3212 feet or 979 meters
Average Width: 350 feet or 107 meters
Continent: South America
Country: Venezuela
State / Province: Bolivar
Locality: Canaima National Park

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The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google, Inc., located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, near San Jose. The name Googleplex is a play on words, being a portmanteau of Google and complex, and a reference to googolplex, the name given to the large number 10¹⁰¹⁰⁰, or 10^googol. The original 1979 coinage (as Googleplex Starthinker) is from the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The four core buildings, totaling (47,038 m²), were built for and originally occupied by Silicon Graphics (SGI). The office space and corporate campus is located within a larger 26-acre (110,000 m2) site that contains Charleston Park, a 5-acre (20,000 m2) public park; improved access to Permanente Creek; and public trails that connect the corporate site to Shoreline Park and the Bay Trail. The project, launched in 1994 to reclaim a former industrial brownfield, was a creative collaboration between SGI, STUDIOS Architecture in San Francisco, SWA Group of San Francisco and Sausalito, and the Planning and Community Development Agency of the City of Mountain View. The objective was to develop in complementary fashion the privately-owned corporate headquarters and adjoining public greenspace. Key design decisions placed parking for nearly 2000 cars underground, enabling SWA to integrate the two open spaces with water features, shallow pools, fountains, pathways, and plazas. The project was completed in 1997. The ASLA noted in 1999 that the SGI project was a significant departure from typical corporate campuses, challenging conventional thinking about private and public space.

The former SGI facilities were leased by Google beginning in 2003.[2] In June 2006, Google purchased some of Silicon Graphics' properties, including the Googleplex, for $319 million.[3][4]

Since the buildings are of relatively low height, the complex covers a large area. The interior of the headquarters is furnished with items like shade lamps and giant rubber balls. The lobby contains a piano and a projection of current live Google search queries. The facilities include a gym (Building 40), free laundry rooms (Buildings 40 and 42), two small swimming pools, a sand volleyball court, and eleven cafeterias of diverse selection. Google has also installed replicas of SpaceShipOne and a dinosaur skeleton.

In late 2006 and early 2007 the company installed a series of solar panels, capable of producing 1.6 megawatts of electricity. At the time, it was believed to be the largest corporate installation in the United States. About 30 percent of the Googleplex's electricity needs will be fulfilled by this project, with the remainder being purchased. About one third of the panels will be in the form of "solar trees" mounted on poles above parking lots, with the remainder placed on rooftops. The solar panel project went online on 18 June 2007. As of 21 June 2007 Google has installed over 90% of the 9,212 solar panels that comprise the 1.6 megawatt project.

Photos:
(This photos from EROS HOAGLAND / REDUX FOR TIME /time.com)

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Camels have lived in some of the most desolate corners of our planet, and not only do they live, they thrive. Most large animals are unable to survive in these kinds of desolate places. This is because of their large requirement for resources such as food and water. Camels are able to use this to their advantage as a survival strategy.

By living in deserts, mountains, and other arid places Camels are able to avoid predators, and others who would compete for resources. Camels are only able to do this because of their amazing ability to efficiently use the resources their environments provide. A camel can travel long distances which allow them to take advantage of the maximum number of resources. They can withstand a massive amount of dehydration which allow them to survive not only between watering holes, but sometimes between seasons. When at a watering hole camels are able to gorge themselves and rehydrate quickly.

For food, camels are omnivorous. They can eat almost anything be it vegetation, meat, or bone,-- salty or sweet, a camels stomach knows no limits. But it is their temperament that is truly endeared the camel to man. Docile and sweet under a caring hand, but stubborn and angry if ill treated, the camel both wins your heart and your respect.

Camels are even-toed ungulates within the genus Camelus. The dromedary, one-humped or Arabian camel has a single hump and is well known for its healthy low fat milk, and the Bactrian camel has two humps. They are native to the dry desert areas of western Asia, and central and east Asia, respectively.

The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years. A fully grown adult camel stands 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) at the shoulder and 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) at the hump. The hump rises about 30 inches (75 cm) out of its body. Camels can run up to 65 km/h (40 mph) in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h (25 mph).

Fossil evidence indicates that the ancestors of modern camels evolved in North America during the Palaeogene period, and later spread to most parts of Asia. Humans first domesticated camels before 2000 BC. The dromedary and the Bactrian camel are both still used for milk, meat, and as beasts of burden—the dromedary in western Asia and in Africa north of the sub-Saharan savannahs, and the Bactrian camel further to the north and east in central Asia.

Camels do not store water in their humps as is commonly believed; the humps are actually a reservoir of fatty tissue. Concentrating body fat in their humps minimizes heat-trapping insulation throughout the rest of their body, which may be an adaptation to living in hot climates. When this tissue is metabolized, it acts as a source of energy, and would yield more than 1 g of water for each 1 g of fat converted through reaction with oxygen from air. This process of fat metabolization generates a net loss of water through respiration for the oxygen required to convert the fat.

Their ability to withstand long periods without water is due to a series of physiological adaptations. Their red blood cells have an oval shape, unlike those of other mammals, which are circular. This is to facilitate their flow in a dehydrated state. These cells are also more stable in order to withstand high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water (100 litres (22 imp gal; 26 US gal) to 150 litres (33 imp gal; 40 US gal) in one drink).

Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water content that would kill most other animals. Their temperature ranges from 34 °C (93 °F) at night up to 41 °C (106 °F) during the day, and only above this threshold will they begin to sweat. The upper body temperature range is often not reached during the day in milder climatic conditions, and therefore, the camel may not sweat at all during the day. Evaporation of their sweat takes place at the skin level, not at the surface of their coat, thereby being very efficient at cooling the body compared to the amount of water lost through sweating. This ability to fluctuate body temperature and the efficiency of their sweating allows them to preserve about five litres of water a day.

A feature of their nostrils is that a large amount of water vapor in their exhalations is trapped and returned to their body fluids, thereby reducing the amount of water lost through respiration.

They can withstand at least 20-25% weight loss due to sweating (most mammals can only withstand about 3-4% dehydration before cardiac failure results from the thickened blood). A camel's blood remains hydrated, even though the body fluids are lost, until this 25% limit is reached.

Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking.

A camel's thick coat reflects sunlight, and also insulates them from the intense heat radiated from desert sand. A shorn camel has to sweat 50% more to avoid overheating. Their long legs help by keeping them further from the hot ground. Camels have been known to swim.

Their mouth is very sturdy, able to chew thorny desert plants. Long eyelashes and ear hairs, together with sealable nostrils, form a barrier against sand. Their gait and their widened feet help them move without sinking into the sand.

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Male bee hummingbirds (mellisuga helenae), which live in Cuba, weigh 0.056 ounces and are 2.75 inches in length. The bill and tail account for half of this length.

Hummingbirds are birds in the family Trochilidae, and are native to the Americas. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 12-90 times per second (depending on the species). They can also fly backwards, and are the only group of birds able to do so. Their English name derives from the characteristic hum made by their rapid wing beats. They can fly at speeds exceeding 15 m/s (54 km/h; 34 mph).

Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of plants and are important pollinators, especially of deep-throated, tubular flowers. Like bees, they are able to assess the amount of sugar in the nectar they eat; they reject flower types that produce nectar which is less than 10% sugar and prefer those whose sugar content is stronger. Nectar is a poor source of nutrients, so hummingbirds meet their needs for protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc. by preying on insects and spiders, especially when feeding young.

Most hummingbirds have bills that are long and straight or nearly so, but in some species the bill shape is adapted for specialized feeding. Thornbills have short, sharp bills adapted for feeding from flowers with short corollas and piercing the bases of longer ones. The Sicklebills' extremely decurved bills are adapted to extracting nectar from the curved corollas of flowers in the family Gesneriaceae. The bill of the Fiery-tailed Awlbill has an upturned tip, as in the Avocets. The male Tooth-billed Hummingbird has barracuda-like spikes at the tip of its long, straight bill.

The two halves of a hummingbird's bill have a pronounced overlap, with the lower half (mandible) fitting tightly inside the upper half (maxilla). When hummingbirds feed on nectar, the bill is usually only opened slightly, allowing the tongue to dart out and into the interior of flowers.

Like the similar nectar-feeding sunbirds and unlike other birds, hummingbirds drink by using protrusible grooved or trough-like tongues.

Hummingbirds do not spend all day flying, as the energy cost would be prohibitive; the majority of their activity consists simply of sitting or perching. Hummingbirds feed in many small meals, consuming many small invertebrates and up to five times their own body weight in nectar each day. They spend an average of 10-15% of their time feeding and 75-80% sitting and digesting.

Aerodynamics of flight
Hummingbird flight has been studied intensively from an aerodynamic perspective using wind tunnels and high-speed video cameras.

Writing in Nature, the biomechanist Douglas Warrick and coworkers studied the Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus, in a wind tunnel using particle image velocimetry techniques and investigated the lift generated on the bird's upstroke and downstroke. They concluded that their subjects produced 75% of their weight support during the down-stroke and 25% during the up-stroke. Many earlier studies had assumed (implicitly or explicitly) that lift was generated equally during the two phases of the wingbeat cycle, as is the case of insects of a similar size. This finding shows that hummingbirds' hovering is similar to, but distinct from, that of hovering insects such as the hawk moths.

The Giant Hummingbird's wings beat at 8–10 beats per second, the wings of medium-sized hummingbirds beat about 20–25 beats per second and the smallest beat 70 beats per second.

Hummingbirds are found only in the Americas, from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, including the Caribbean. The majority of species occur in tropical Central and South America, but several species also breed in temperate areas. Only the migratory Ruby-throated Hummingbird breeds in continental North America east of the Mississippi River and Great Lakes. The Black-chinned Hummingbird, its close relative and another migrant, is the most widespread and common species in the western United States, while the Rufous Hummingbird is the most widespread species in western Canada.

Most hummingbirds of the U.S. and Canada migrate south in fall to spend the northern winter in Mexico or Central America. A few southern South American species also move to the tropics in the southern winter. A few species are year-round residents in the warmer coastal and interior desert regions. Among these is Anna's Hummingbird, a common resident from southern California inland to southern Arizona and north to southwestern British Columbia.

The Rufous Hummingbird is one of several species that breed in western North America and are wintering in increasing numbers in the southeastern United States, rather than in tropical Mexico. Thanks in part to artificial feeders and winter-blooming gardens, hummingbirds formerly considered doomed by faulty navigational instincts are surviving northern winters and even returning to the same gardens year after year. Individuals that survive winters in the north, however, may have altered internal navigation instincts that could be passed on to their offspring. The Rufous Hummingbird nests farther north than any other species and must tolerate temperatures below freezing on its breeding grounds. This cold hardiness enables it to survive temperatures well below freezing, provided that adequate shelter and feeders are available.

Hummingbirds will also take sugar water from artificial feeders. Such feeders allow people to observe and enjoy hummingbirds up close while providing the birds with a reliable source of energy, especially when flower blossoms are less abundant.

Only white granulated sugar is proven safe to use in hummingbird feeders. A ratio of 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water is a common recipe. Boiling and then cooling this mixture before use has been recommended to help deter the growth of bacteria and yeasts. Powdered sugars contain corn starch as an anti-caking agent; this additive can contribute to premature fermentation of the solution. Brown, turbinado, and "raw" sugars contain iron, which can be deadly to hummingbirds if consumed over long periods. Honey is made by bees from the nectar of flowers, but it contains sugars that are less palatable to hummingbirds and promotes the growth of microorganisms that may be dangerous to their health.

Red food dye is often added to homemade solutions. Commercial products sold as "instant nectar" or "hummingbird food" may also contain preservatives and/or artificial flavors as well as dyes. The long-term effects of these additives on hummingbirds have not been studied, but studies on laboratory animals indicate the potential to cause disease and premature mortality at high consumption rates. Although some commercial products contain small amounts of nutritional additives, hummingbirds obtain all necessary nutrients from the insects they eat. This renders the added nutrients unnecessary.

Other animals are also attracted to hummingbird feeders. Bees and wasps are attracted to the nectar and may crawl into the feeder, where they may become trapped. Ants are also attracted to the nectar. Orioles, woodpeckers, bananaquits, and other animals are known to drink from hummingbird feeders, sometimes tipping them and draining the liquid. Sometimes a large hummingbird drives its smaller brethren away from a feeder.

To lure flying insects away from feeders, hang several, and provide one feeder with a 3 to 1 mix. The insects will be attracted to the sweeter solution and it won't hurt the hummers to sample it.

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The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is a species of lizard that inhabits the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang in Indonesia. A member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae), it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to an average length of 2 to 3 metres (6.6 to 9.8 ft) and weighing around 70 kilograms (150 lb). Their unusual size is attributed to island gigantism, since there are no other carnivorous animals to fill the niche on the islands where they live, and also to the Komodo dragon's low metabolic rate. As a result of their size, these lizards dominate the ecosystems in which they live. Although Komodo dragons eat mostly carrion, they will also hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals.

Mating begins between May and August, and the eggs are laid in September. About twenty eggs are deposited in abandoned megapode nests and incubated for seven to eight months, hatching in April, when insects are most plentiful. Young Komodo dragons are vulnerable and therefore dwell in trees, safe from predators and cannibalistic adults. They take around three to five years to mature, and may live as long as fifty years. They are among the rare vertebrates capable of parthenogenesis, in which females may lay viable eggs if males are absent.

Komodo dragons were discovered by Western scientists in 1910. Their large size and fearsome reputation make them popular zoo exhibits. In the wild their range has contracted due to human activities and they are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. They are protected under Indonesian law, and a national park, Komodo National Park, was founded to aid protection efforts.

In the wild, an adult Komodo dragon usually weighs around 70 kilograms (150 lb), although captive specimens often weigh more. The largest verified wild specimen was 3.13 metres (10.3 ft) long and weighed 166 kilograms (370 lb), including undigested food. The Komodo dragon has a tail as long as its body, as well as about 60 frequently replaced serrated teeth that can measure up to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in length. Its saliva is frequently blood-tinged, because its teeth are almost completely covered by gingival tissue that is naturally lacerated during feeding. This creates an ideal culture for the virulent bacteria that live in its mouth. It also has a long, yellow, deeply forked tongue.

The Komodo dragon prefers hot and dry places, and typically lives in dry open grassland, savanna, and tropical forest at low elevations. As an ectotherm, it is most active in the day, although it exhibits some nocturnal activity. Komodo dragons are largely solitary, coming together only to breed and eat. They are capable of running rapidly in brief sprints up to 20 kilometres per hour (12.4 mph), diving up to 4.5 metres (15 ft), and climbing trees proficiently when young through use of their strong claws. To catch prey that is out of reach, the Komodo dragon may stand on its hind legs and use its tail as a support. As the Komodo dragon matures, its claws are used primarily as weapons, as its great size makes climbing impractical.

For shelter, the Komodo dragon digs holes that can measure from 1–3 metres (3–10 ft) wide with its powerful forelimbs and claws. Because of its large size and habit of sleeping in these burrows, it is able to conserve body heat throughout the night and minimize its basking period the morning after. The Komodo dragon typically hunts in the afternoon, but stays in the shade during the hottest part of the day. These special resting places, usually located on ridges with a cool sea breeze, are marked with droppings and are cleared of vegetation. They also serve as a strategic location from which to ambush deer.

Komodo dragons are carnivores. Although they eat mostly carrion, they will also ambush live prey with a stealthy approach, a technique that has allowed the Komodo dragon to capture even the most lethal prey, such as the King Cobra. When suitable prey arrives near a dragon's ambush site, it will suddenly charge at the animal and go for the underside or the throat. It is able to locate its prey using its keen sense of smell, which can locate a dead or dying animal from a range of up to 9.5 kilometers (6 miles). Komodo dragons have also been observed knocking down large pigs and deer with their strong tail.

Komodo dragons eat by tearing large chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole while holding the carcass down with their forelegs. For smaller prey up to the size of a goat, their loosely articulated jaws, flexible skull, and expandable stomach allow it to swallow its prey whole. The vegetable contents of the stomach and intestines are typically avoided. Copious amounts of red saliva that the Komodo dragons produce help to lubricate the food, but swallowing is still a long process (15–20 minutes to swallow a goat). Komodo dragons may attempt to speed up the process by ramming the carcass against a tree to force it down its throat, sometimes ramming so forcefully that the tree is knocked down. To prevent itself from suffocating while swallowing, it breathes using a small tube under the tongue that connects to the lungs. After eating up to 80 percent of its body weight in one meal, it drags itself to a sunny location to speed digestion, as the food could rot and poison the dragon if left undigested for too long. Because of their slow metabolism, large dragons can survive on as little as 12 meals a year. After digestion, the Komodo dragon regurgitates a mass of horns, hair, and teeth known as the gastric pellet, which is covered in malodorous mucus. After regurgitating the gastric pellet, it rubs its face in the dirt or on bushes to get rid of the mucus, suggesting that it, like humans, does not relish the scent of its own excretions.

The largest animals generally eat first, while the smaller ones follow a hierarchy. The largest male asserts his dominance and the smaller males show their submission by use of body language and rumbling hisses. Dragons of equal size may resort to "wrestling." Losers usually retreat though they have been known to be killed and eaten by victors.

The Komodo dragon's diet is wide-ranging, and includes invertebrates, other reptiles (including smaller Komodo dragons), birds, bird eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild boar, goats, deer, horses, and water buffalo. Young Komodos will eat insects, eggs, geckos, and small mammals. Occasionally they consume humans and human corpses, digging up bodies from shallow graves. This habit of raiding graves caused the villagers of Komodo to move their graves from sandy to clay ground and pile rocks on top of them to deter the lizards. The Komodo dragon may have evolved to feed on the extinct dwarf elephant Stegodon that once lived on Flores, according to evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond. The Komodo dragon has also been observed intentionally startling a pregnant deer in the hopes of a miscarriage whose remains they can eat, a technique that has also been observed in large African predators.

Because the Komodo dragon does not have a diaphragm, it cannot suck water when drinking, nor can it lap water with its tongue. Instead, it drinks by taking a mouthful of water, lifting its head, and letting the water run down its throat.

In late 2005, University of Melbourne researchers concluded that the perentie (Varanus giganteus), other species of monitor, and agamids may be somewhat venomous. The research team showed that the immediate effects of bites from these lizards were caused by mild envenomation. Bites on human digits by a lace monitor (V. varius), a Komodo dragon, and a spotted tree monitor (V. scalaris) were observed, and all produced similar results in humans: rapid swelling within minutes, localized disruption of blood clotting, shooting pain up to the elbow, with some symptoms lasting for several hours. It has been proposed that all venomous lizards, together with their nonvenomous relatives and all snakes, share a common venomous ancestor.

Komodo dragons also possess virulent bacteria in their saliva, of which more than 28 Gram-negative and 29 Gram-positive strains have been isolated. These bacteria cause septicemia in their victim; if an initial bite does not kill the prey animal and it escapes, it will commonly succumb within a week to the resulting infection. The most harmful bacterium in Komodo dragon saliva appears to be a deadly strain of Pasteurella multocida, from studies performed with laboratory mice. There is no specific antidote to the bite of a Komodo dragon, but it can usually be treated by sterilizing the wounded area and giving the patient large doses of antibiotics. If not treated promptly, gangrene can quickly develop around the bite, which may require amputation of the affected area. Because the Komodo dragon appears immune to its own microbes, much research has been done searching for the antibacterial molecule(s) in the hopes of human medicinal usage.(wikipedia.org)

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If your weight 70 kg on Earth, on other planet:

• Mercury: 26 kg
• Venus: 63 kg
• Mars: 26 kg
• Jupiter: 149 kg
• Saturn: 63 kg
• Uranus: 60 kg
• Neptune: 77 kg
• Pluto: 5 kg

Did you know, all planet in our solar system has rotates in anticlockwise (also the sun) except Venus and Uranus.

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The most massive planet in our solar system, with four planet-size moons and many smaller satellites, Jupiter forms a kind of miniature solar system. Jupiter resembles a star in composition. In fact, if it had been about eighty times more massive, it would have become a star rather than a planet.

On January 7, 1610, using his primitive telescope, astronomer Galileo Galilei saw four small "stars" near Jupiter. He had discovered Jupiter's four largest moons, now called Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Collectively, these four moons are known today as the Galilean satellites.

Galileo would be astonished at what we have learned about Jupiter and its moons in the last 30 years. Io is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. Ganymede is the largest planetary moon and is the only moon in the solar system known to have its own magnetic field. A liquid ocean may lie beneath the frozen crust of Europa. Icy oceans may also lie deep beneath the crusts of Callisto and Ganymede. In 2003 alone, astronomers discovered 23 new moons orbiting the giant planet, giving Jupiter a total moon count of 49, the most in the solar system. The numerous small outer moons may be asteroids captured by the giant planet's gravity.

Jupiter's appearance is a tapestry of beautiful colors and atmospheric features. Most visible clouds are composed of ammonia. Water exists deep below and can sometimes be seen through clear spots in the clouds. The planet's "stripes" are dark belts and light zones created by strong east-west winds in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. Within these belts and zones are storm systems that have raged for years. The Great Red Spot, a giant spinning storm, has been observed for more than 300 years.

Atmosphere

The composition of Jupiter's atmosphere is similar to that of the sun—mostly hydrogen and helium. Deep in the atmosphere, the pressure and temperature increase, compressing the hydrogen gas into a liquid. At depths about a third of the way down, the hydrogen becomes metallic and electrically conducting. In this metallic layer, Jupiter's powerful magnetic field is generated by electrical currents driven by Jupiter's fast rotation. At the center, the immense pressure may support a solid core of ice-rock about the size of Earth.

Jupiter's enormous magnetic field is nearly 20,000 times as powerful as Earth's. Trapped within Jupiter's magnetosphere (the area in which magnetic field lines encircle the planet from pole to pole) are swarms of charged particles. Jupiter's rings and moons are embedded in an intense radiation belt of electrons and ions trapped in the magnetic field. The Jovian magnetosphere, composed of these particles and fields, balloons 600,000 to 2 million miles (1 million to 3 million kilometers) toward the sun and tapers into a windsock-shaped tail extending more than 600 million miles (1 billion kilometers) behind Jupiter, as far as Saturn's orbit.

Discovered in 1979 by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, Jupiter's rings were a surprise: a flattened main ring and an inner cloudlike ring, called the halo, are both composed of small, dark particles. A third ring, known as the gossamer ring because of its transparency, is actually three rings of microscopic debris from three small moons: Amalthea, Thebe, and Adrastea. Jupiter's ring system may be formed by dust kicked up as interplanetary meteoroids smash into the giant planet's four small inner moons. The main ring probably comes from the moon Metis. Jupiter's rings are only visible when backlit by the sun.

In December 1995, NASA's Galileo spacecraft dropped a probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, which collected the first direct measurements of the atmosphere. Following the release of the probe, the Galileo spacecraft began a multiyear study of Jupiter and its largest moons. As Galileo began its 29th orbit, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was nearing Jupiter for a gravity-assist maneuver on the way to Saturn. The two spacecraft made simultaneous observations of the magnetosphere, solar wind, rings, and Jupiter's auroras.

—Text courtesy NASA/JPL

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