Fortune must have had a pretty good time when the solar nebula exploded, tossed, roared, and turned around 4.6 billion years ago. If the slightest something hadn’t gone the way it did, we wouldn’t be here writing and studying the ‘what ifs’ and ‘what is’ of our universe. One night, like our good old Galileo, you must go starwatching. Peer up at the sky in the dark of the night before sunrise, and there you’ll see planet Jupiter, as one of the brightest stars in our sky. For all its brightness, bright Jupiter holds within itself an ancient blessing, one that is responsible for the stability of our solar system. The most powerful Jovian, a consequence of its corporeal form, Jupiter has the highest gravitational pull among all the planets in our solar system. 

Bigger than pure imagination.

Gravity is a fundamental force of space-time. Generally we have learned that the heavier an object, the stronger its gravitational pull. Newton’s law of gravitation describes this force as attractive in nature as well as directly proportional to the product of the masses involved.

Now imagine, really imagine with utmost precision, how humongous a planet Jupiter is. Compared to our home (also known as Planet Earth, the fifth largest in the solar system), Jupiter is actually a titan with immense mass. The name, taken after the Roman king of Gods, befits the planet. No amount of pictures can materialise how big it is for us, so imagination is an onerous task. NASA says if it were hollow, Jupiter could fit 1000 Earths inside it. Its radius is about 10 to 11 times that of our planet.

With all the enormous matter, Jupiter’s gravity can change even the orbits of asteroids. Not to mention, the planet has intense magnetic fields and so many moons (as of now, 95 moons are officially recognised), rings, and Trojan asteroids in its system! 

Resembling the Sun

Since the inception of the planet, there has never been a quiet moment. 4.6 billion years ago, Jupiter was formed by gravity pulling gas into a raging orb. Truth be told, we don’t exactly know how. Made of hydrogen-helium gas in hydrostatic equilibrium, the planet has a dynamic atmosphere and resembles the Sun. Maybe, if ever nuclear fusion (what powers the Sun) was possible on Jupiter (it is not possible on Jupiter as it doesn’t meet the temperature and pressure criteria due to not enough mass), it could’ve been another Sun.

Hydrostatic equilibrium

Hydrostatic equilibrium means the balance between upward-directed pressure force and the downward-directed force of gravity. Jupiter’s hydrostatic equilibrium prevents it from collapsing under its own weight.

Enigmatic Jove, with its signature belts and zones, cyclones and anticylones, and mesmerising auroras, tells us so little. Shrouded in mystery, scientists continue to probe for better understanding this tale.

Interaction, Aid, and this Life.

If you could travel to Jupiter, you would be crushed. Crushed either by the heavy gravity or crushed by the powerful storms. Amidst all the sizzling rage and extreme phenomena, the solar system is dependent on Jupiter’s gravity. The gravitational interactions that the planets in our solar system have with one another has great effects. Newton’s law also explains that the strength of the gravitational force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the masses. For Jupiter, this ultimately means that it sort of becomes the guardian whose presence shaped many environments. Jupiter’s gravity influences and keeps the orbits in place. In fact, both Jupiter’s and the Sun’s gravity influences a point called the barycenter, which is the centre of mass of two or more bodies that orbit each other. Only the Jupiter-Sun barycenter lies outside the Sun’s surface. Therefore, the barycenter of our entire solar system (which is relative to the Sun) is affected and aided by Jupiter.

Studies also show that Jupiter’s gravitational influence brought many life-enabling elements to Earth during its early days. Along the way, it has also flung space materials inward as well as deflect materials outward. Long story short, here we are, living this life. Just some gravity keeping things in check.

Published – October 17, 2025 03:48 pm IST

NASA launched a spacecraft from Florida on Monday on a mission to examine whether Jupiter’s moon Europa has conditions suitable to support life, with a focus on the large subsurface ocean believed to be lurking beneath its thick outer shell of ice.

The US space agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket under sunny skies. The robotic solar-powered probe is due to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030 after journeying about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) in 5-1/2 years. The launch had been planned for last week but was put off because of Hurricane Milton.

It is the largest spacecraft NASA has built for a planetary mission, at about 100 feet (30.5 meters) long and about 58 feet (17.6 meters) wide with its antennas and solar arrays fully deployed – bigger than a basketball court – while weighing approximately 13,000 pounds (6,000 kg).

Even though Europa, the fourth-largest of Jupiter’s 95 officially recognized moons, is just a quarter of Earth’s diameter, its vast global ocean of salty liquid water may contain twice the water in Earth’s oceans. Earth’s oceans are thought to have been the birthplace of life on our planet.

Europa, whose diameter of roughly 1,940 miles (3,100 km) is approximately 90% that of our moon, has been viewed as a potential habitat for life beyond Earth in our solar system. Its icy shell is believed to be 10-15 miles (15-25 km) thick, sitting atop an ocean 40-100 miles (60-150 km) deep.

NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free told a prelaunch briefing on Sunday that Europa boasts one of the most promising environments for potential habitability in our solar system, beyond Earth, though he noted that this mission will not be a search for any actual living organisms.

“What we discover on Europa,” Free said, “will have profound implications for the study of astrobiology and how we view our place in the universe.”

“Scientists believe Europa has suitable conditions below its icy surface to support life. Its conditions are water, energy, chemistry and stability,” said Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s science mission directorate.

Among the mission, objectives are measuring the internal ocean and the layer of ice above it, mapping the moon’s surface composition, and hunting for plumes of water vapour that may be venting from Europa’s icy crust. The plan is for Europa Clipper starting in 2031 to conduct 49 close flybys of Europa over three years, coming as close as 16 miles (25 kilometers) to the moon’s surface.

Europa Clipper will be operating in an intense radiation environment around Jupiter, our solar system’s biggest planet.

Jupiter is enveloped by a magnetic field about 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s. This magnetic field spins, capturing and accelerating charged particles and creating radiation that could harm spacecraft. NASA fashioned a vault made of titanium and aluminium inside the Europa Clipper to protect its sensitive electronics from this radiation.

“One of the Europa Clipper mission’s main challenges is delivering a spacecraft hardy enough to withstand the pummeling of radiation from Jupiter but also sensitive enough to gather the measurements needed to investigate Europa’s environment,” Connelly said.

NASA said Europa Clipper is loaded with more than 6,060 pounds (2,750 kg) of propellant to get it to Jupiter. For the launch, the spacecraft was placed inside the protective nose cone atop the rocket.

The spacecraft will not take a straight path to Jupiter. Instead, it is due to fly by Mars, then back by Earth, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum like a slingshot. Its expansive solar arrays, which were folded up for the launch, will gather sunlight for powering the spacecraft’s nine scientific instruments as well as its electronics and other subsystems.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)