Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest within the solar system.
Jupiter is usually the fourth brightest object in the sky (after the Sun, the Moon and Venus); however at times Mars appears brighter than Jupiter.
Jupiter is 2.5 times more massive than all the other planets combined, so massive that its barycenter with the Sun actually lies above the Sun's surface (1.068 solar radii from the Sun's center).
It is 318 times more massive than Earth, with a diameter 11 times that of Earth, and its volume is 1300 times as great as that of Earth.
Quite naturally, Jupiter's gravitational influence has dominated the evolution of the solar system: some have described the solar system as consisting of the Sun, Jupiter, and assorted debris..
For more information about the topic Jupiter, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Mercury (planet) Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the solar system, orbiting the Sun once every 88 days. It ranges in brightness from about −2.0 ... >
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