Jupiter was not named after Zeus, the god of all legendary Greek gods, for nothing. He is considered king when it comes to size among all the planets in the Solar System. It is an enormously huge and compact ball of cloud made up of mostly hydrogen and helium. It is incredibly massive that the Earth is almost just as big as the Great Red Spot (a great storm and a remarkable area that can be seen on the planet). Side by side, Jupiter can be compared to a basketball while the Earth can be just as small as a dime. Moreover, if all the other planets will be mashed up into one ball, Jupiter will still be two and a half times bigger.

That nearly answers the question of who discovered Jupiter. Although it is very far from the Earth with a distance of around 470 million miles and is one of the outer planets, it is still so massive that it is the third brightest object in the Earth’s sky. With the Moon as the brightest and Venus as second, Jupiter can be seen by the naked eye and its basic color and moons can even be seen by plainly using binoculars. Sometimes, it can be seen both in early morning and during dawn. It can often be seen a little after sunrise and before or after sunset.

Nobody knows who first saw Jupiter. Along with Venus, the Moon and Mars, it shines bright in the sky and can be seen by the naked eye like a stationary star. The planet was not discovered, but its moons were. Using a telescope, Galileo Galilei discovered four moons which were called Io, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa in 1610. They are often called Galilean moons. Jupiter has sixty-three known moons which makes it the Sun’s counterpart in its own mini solar system. And more unknown moons may still be added to the list.

The moons of Jupiter may even be seen by an ordinary sky gazer if he will use a telescope. If the telescope will be held steady at Jupiter, the seeker should remain focused for one to two minutes or until the eyes get adjusted to the light. If a tiny spot of light just beside Jupiter starts to change color, the sky gazer just sighted one of the Jupiterian moons.

Although named by Romans, it is said that the Babylonians were the first to record their observation of the planet that is now called Jupiter. It is included in the Scribe’s planetary theories about how the setting and rising of heavenly bodies can become omens to humans’ daily living. They have taken
specific notes on when Jupiter rises and appears on the sky and associated it with zodiac-like meanings.

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