“Weather forecast for Jupiter’s South Equatorial Belt: cloudy with a chance of ammonia.”
At more than twice the size of all the other planets, Jupiter is, by far, the largest planet in our solar system. The entire Earth could squeeze into its infamous ‘Red Spot,’ and the fifth planet from the Sun has more than lived up to its name after the Roman God of Sky and Thunder. Jupiter has captivated astronomers for thousands of years, and the efforts of missions such as Galileo and Juno have produced incredible findings that have shaken our understanding of planetary origins, profoundly shaping our perceptions of how we came to be in turn. Join us at What We Reading as we delve into the largest gas giant in the solar system with the best books on Jupiter!
Jupiter – William Sheehan And Thomas Hockey
First up on our list of the best Jupiter books is William Sheehan and Thomas Hockey’s acclaimed 2015 work. Now available in paperback, Jupiter serves as a stellar introduction to the grandest planet, helping readers gain an understanding of not only its inner workings and long-held secrets but also our place in the solar system.
Sheehan and Hockey map the long history humans have had with the fifth planet from the Sun, from guiding the ancient Sumerians and Babylonians to inspiring poets such as Wordsworth, up to our contemporary study of it today. Jupiter combines the latest discoveries by NASA’s Juno program with information acquired by improved telescopes and other robotic explorers for a guide that charts the history of our observations of the planet and reveals the latest breakthroughs in science.
Jupiter: The Planet, Satellites And Magnetosphere – Fran Bagenal, William B. McKinnon And Timothy E. Dowling
Arguably the most extensive and comprehensive book on Jupiter ever composed, Fran Bagenal, William McKinnon, and Timothy Dowling summarize the Jovian system and our understanding of it in their shared work. First published back in 2004, the authors curate the groundbreaking discoveries unearthed from the Galileo spacecraft, the Galileo probe, the Cassini spacecraft, and the Hubble Space Telescope, tying them in with ground-based and theoretical studies.
Put together by the trio of editors, Jupiter: The Planet, Satellites And Magnetosphere features insights and musings from authorities and experts across the science world.
The Giant Planet Jupiter – John H. Rogers
First published in 1995, John H. Rogers’ The Giant Planet Jupiter provides a definitive account of the solar system’s fifth planet for advanced amateur and professional astronomers, and planetary scientists.
Comprehensive and accessible, this vividly illustrated account of Jupiter captures the awe and mystery of the planet, demonstrating how it has attracted the attention of astronomers for thousands of years. Utilizing the findings from the Pioneer, Voyager, and Ulysses space missions, Rogers takes readers through the planet’s atmosphere and into its giant swirling storms for one of the best overviews of the greatest discoveries humans have unearthed about our solar system’s biggest player.
The Planets: The Definitive Visual Guide To Our Solar System – D.K. Publishing And Maggie Aderin-Pocock
From Mercury to Jupiter and beyond, with all-new 3D models created using the latest data from NASA and the European Space Agency, D.K. Publishing provides one of the most breathtaking journeys through our solar system in The Planets.
Layer-by-layer, planets and other strange and fascinating objects in our solar system are broken down in this 2014 work, taking them out of the blackness of space and under the microscope, revealing their machinations in astonishing detail. Featuring a timeline of all the major missions and breakthroughs made right up to the Mars rovers, infographics, and facts help condense all of our understanding of the solar system into one fascinating and entertaining read.
Jupiter Odyssey: The Story Of NASA’s Galileo Mission – David M. Harland
Launched in October 1989, the Galileo spacecraft was the first mission to ever orbit an outer planet, arriving at Jupiter in 1995. It spent the next eight years photographing the planet and its moons before crashing into its atmosphere in September 2003. Until the arrival of Juno in 2015, it provided almost all of our understanding of Jupiter as a planet.
In his acclaimed book Jupiter Odyssey, David M. Harland hones in on the Galileo mission and its long exploration into the Jovian system. Featuring material from press conferences, technical papers and essays from engineers and scientists, he vividly recounts the extraordinary distance covered by the spacecraft and the remarkable discoveries it shot back to us. For one of the best Jupiter books on understanding what we know about the planet, and how we know it, Jupiter Odyssey remains as invaluable today as it was when it was first published.
The Outer Planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, And Neptune – Sherman Hollar
Ever-progressing technology has allowed our efforts to explore space to grow more ambitious. The furthest stretches of our cosmos are now tantalizingly reachable, rewarding us with stunning discoveries that further our understanding of the universe in its entirety.
In his 2011 book The Outer Planets, Sherman Hollar lifts the lid on the outer planets of our solar system – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – celestial bodies that were once thought impossible to reach. This comprehensive volume breaks down these remote planets’ harsh environments and stunning makeup to move us closer to our understanding of the origins of our planet, as well as our knowledge of the wider expanse beyond the solar system.”
The Juno Mission – Scott Bolton
Our most recent journey to Jupiter, the Juno Mission, is one of the most ambitious and daring solar system exploration endeavours ever conceived. As the largest being in our solar system after the Sun, few objects can tell us more about the formation of planetary systems like Jupiter. Juno was designed to tackle the harshest planetary environments known in our system, undertaking a never-before-attempted orbit up close around Jupiter’s poles.
Scott Bolton chronicles the designs, strategies, and incredible engineering that went into the process of sending Juno to Jupiter. Featuring gravity radio science, microwave radiometers, magnetometers, an infrared imager auroral mapper, an ultraviolet imager and spectrograph, a visible light imager known as JunoCam, low and high-energy particle detectors, and plasma wave and radio electromagnetic sensors, it is one of the most in-depth accounts into how we explore the space around us.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
