I chose the planet Jupiter because it is the largest of all the planets. It's a gas planet and I like that about this planet. The diameter is 88,846 miles or 142,984 km. This planet is fifth from the sun, which means the sun is approximately 483,780,000 miles away. Its duration to rotate once around its axis takes nine hours and fifty-six minutes, compared to one day on Earth. The planet Jupiter completes one orbit in 4,333 planetary days, or nearly 12 Earth years. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, about as large as a gas planet can be. It is also one of the brightest objects in the sky; we know that at night, it is the brightest “star” after Venus. The four moons are also visible from Earth with binoculars. Jupiter has 63 known satellites (February 2004), the largest being called Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. It has a magnetic field that traps electrons, protons and other electrically charged particles in radiation belts around the planet. Its magnetosphere also extends over 650 million kilometers. The surprising thing that caught my attention and that I didn't know, well actually three ...