Top 10 Differences Between Jupiter and Earth

#1: Size and Mass (Diameter: 88,846 miles vs. 7,917 miles; Mass: 1.898 × 10²⁷ kg vs. 5.972 × 10²⁴ kg)

The most immediate and striking difference between Jupiter and Earth is their size. Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System, boasting a staggering diameter of approximately 88,846 miles—over 11 times wider than Earth’s modest 7,917 miles. If Jupiter were a hollow shell, you could fit over 1,300 Earths inside it, and it still wouldn’t be full. But that’s not even the most mind-blowing part. Jupiter’s mass is about 318 times that of Earth, tipping the cosmic scales at a staggering 1.898 × 10²⁷ kilograms. Imagine weighing yourself on Jupiter—not only would you weigh more, you’d be instantly flattened by its immense gravity, which is 2.4 times stronger than Earth’s.

It’s hard to overstate just how big Jupiter truly is. When Galileo first pointed his rudimentary telescope at Jupiter in 1610, he was shocked to discover that it had its own orbiting moons—something previously believed to be unique to Earth. That revelation helped shift the human view of the cosmos forever. Today, scientists often refer to Jupiter as a “failed star” because, although it lacks the mass to ignite nuclear fusion like the Sun, its composition and internal pressure are similar to that of a star. In fact, Jupiter generates more heat than it receives from the Sun due to slow gravitational contraction—a process known as Kelvin-Helmholtz heating.

What’s even more intriguing is how Jupiter’s massive size affects its environment. For instance, its gravitational pull acts like a cosmic shield for Earth, deflecting or capturing comets and asteroids that might otherwise be on a collision course with our home planet. Some scientists even suggest that Earth’s ability to support complex life may be directly tied to Jupiter’s protective gravitational influence. In a way, Jupiter is like the Solar System’s big brother—larger, stronger, and quietly keeping watch from a distance.

Here’s a little historical gem: when the Voyager 1 spacecraft flew past Jupiter in 1979, it captured images that revealed the full scale of the planet’s majesty—bands of colorful storms, turbulent cloud tops, and the awe-inspiring Great Red Spot. These images stunned the world and offered a humbling perspective on just how small and delicate Earth truly is in comparison. It was one of the first times humanity truly saw Jupiter up close, and it forever changed our understanding of planetary magnitude.

So, when you think about Jupiter, don’t just think “big.” Think staggeringly, unimaginably, mind-bendingly enormous. Compared to Earth, Jupiter is not just a planet—it’s a planetary behemoth, a celestial heavyweight that reigns supreme in both bulk and presence. And this is only the beginning.

#2: Composition (Gas Giant vs. Rocky Planet)

One of the most fundamental differences between Jupiter and Earth lies in their composition. Earth is a terrestrial planet, which means it’s made primarily of rock and metal. We stand on a solid crust, dig into the ground, build structures from stone and iron, and rely on the planet’s mineral-rich mantle and molten iron core. In contrast, Jupiter is a gas giant—a world with no solid surface at all. It’s made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, the two lightest and most abundant elements in the universe. Scientists believe that beneath its dense atmosphere, Jupiter may have a small core of rock or metal, but this core is swaddled in tens of thousands of miles of superheated, pressurized gases and liquid metallic hydrogen.

Walking on Jupiter would be impossible—not only because you’d be crushed by the atmosphere’s pressure long before reaching the center, but because there’s simply no ground to stand on. Instead of solid terrain, you’d encounter layers upon layers of swirling clouds and stormy gases. These atmospheric bands—striped and turbulent—rotate at different speeds depending on latitude, creating the stunning marbled appearance we see in telescope images. Some areas move eastward, others westward, generating immense shear forces and atmospheric chaos.

Interestingly, Jupiter’s composition mirrors that of the Sun more than any of the rocky planets. In fact, if Jupiter had been about 80 times more massive, it could have ignited nuclear fusion and become a star. It’s for this reason that astronomers sometimes refer to it as a “failed star.” Meanwhile, Earth is packed with iron, nickel, silicon, and oxygen—all the building blocks for life as we know it. The difference in planetary makeup reflects the vastly different roles Jupiter and Earth play in the Solar System’s architecture: Jupiter, the gas colossus sculpting space with its gravity, and Earth, the rocky cradle nurturing life.

#3: Atmosphere (Hydrogen & Helium vs. Nitrogen & Oxygen)

Earth’s atmosphere is an invisible yet vital blanket that sustains life. Composed of roughly 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and trace amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases, it regulates temperature, allows us to breathe, and protects us from harmful solar radiation. Jupiter’s atmosphere, on the other hand, is a swirling, hostile mix of about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium, with trace amounts of methane, ammonia, and water vapor. These gases form complex cloud layers that stretch thousands of miles deep, creating a pressure cooker of volatile weather and unrelenting storms.

One of the most iconic features of Jupiter’s atmosphere is the Great Red Spot, a storm that has been raging for at least 350 years—possibly longer. This behemoth of a hurricane measures about 10,000 miles across, large enough to fit the entire Earth inside it. High-velocity winds rip through its core at speeds exceeding 400 mph. Earth has hurricanes, yes, but none that last centuries or grow to such enormous scales. Jupiter’s rapid rotation—one complete spin every 9 hours and 55 minutes—exacerbates the turbulence, whipping its atmosphere into high-speed jets that dwarf Earth’s jet streams.

And then there’s the temperature. Earth’s atmospheric temperatures range from -130°F in the upper stratosphere to about 120°F in the hottest deserts. Jupiter’s cloud tops, however, are a frigid -234°F, while its internal layers soar to thousands of degrees Fahrenheit due to compression and heat from its core. Unlike Earth’s relatively mild and life-friendly sky, Jupiter’s atmosphere is an alien world of toxic gases, violent weather, and extremes beyond our imagination.

#4: Surface (Solid Crust vs. No Surface)

Earth is defined by its solid surface—mountains, oceans, forests, deserts, and continents etched into a lithosphere of rock that floats atop a molten mantle. Humans have traversed nearly every corner of this dynamic terrain, and satellites have mapped every continent down to the last ridge. In stark contrast, Jupiter offers no surface to explore. The “surface” we see in telescope images is merely the tops of cloud decks, high in the planet’s atmosphere, with no solid landmass beneath.

If you descended into Jupiter, you’d sink into increasingly dense and hot layers of gas. First, you’d pass through ammonia clouds, then darker water clouds, then descend into an ocean of metallic hydrogen—a form of hydrogen so compressed it behaves like an electrically conductive metal. This layer may extend for 25,000 miles or more. The deeper you go, the greater the pressure—eventually exceeding 2 million times that of Earth’s atmosphere. It’s a realm so extreme that even our most rugged space probes, like Galileo, couldn’t survive long within it.

This lack of a surface has stymied ideas of “landing” on Jupiter. All our missions to date have been flybys or atmospheric entries. Even the Juno spacecraft, which is currently orbiting the planet, was never designed to plunge into the depths. On Earth, our landscapes are tangible, interactive, and life-bearing. On Jupiter, they are intangible, ethereal, and unknowable—a mysterious frontier that defies our most basic concepts of up and down, sky and ground.

#5: Moons (95 vs. 1)

Earth has just one moon—a familiar and beloved satellite that stabilizes our planet’s tilt, controls ocean tides, and has been the destination of historic human exploration. Jupiter, however, is accompanied by an astounding 95 moons, with new ones being discovered all the time. These aren’t just rocks either; many of Jupiter’s moons are complex worlds in their own right. The four largest—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, known as the Galilean moons—are so large and geologically interesting that some rival Mercury in size and diversity.

Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, spewing molten sulfur and lava across its tortured landscape. Europa hides a global ocean beneath its icy crust, raising tantalizing questions about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System at 3,273 miles in diameter—larger than Mercury—and it has its own magnetic field. Callisto is ancient and battered, a frozen relic that holds clues to the early Solar System.

Jupiter’s vast family of moons is like a miniature solar system, complete with gravitational interactions, orbital resonances, and potential subsurface oceans. Meanwhile, Earth’s solitary Moon remains vital to our own planet’s rhythms and life cycles. The difference in quantity and diversity of natural satellites between the two planets speaks volumes about their different histories and cosmic roles.

#6: Magnetic Field (10x Stronger Than Earth’s)

Earth’s magnetic field is generated by the movement of molten iron within its outer core, creating a protective magnetosphere that shields us from solar wind and cosmic radiation. This field is strong enough to produce auroras near the poles and protect the atmosphere from erosion. But Jupiter’s magnetic field is in a league of its own—over 10 times stronger than Earth’s and extending up to 7 million miles into space, with a magnetotail that reaches as far as Saturn.

This immense magnetosphere is powered not by molten iron, but by the planet’s swirling ocean of liquid metallic hydrogen. The result is a vast, intense radiation environment that could fry unprotected spacecraft in minutes. The radiation belts around Jupiter are far more powerful than anything we experience on Earth, and they’ve proven a major challenge for every mission sent to study the planet.

The field also traps particles from the solar wind and ejects them in spectacular auroras around Jupiter’s poles—auroras that are many times more powerful than Earth’s northern lights. These glowing phenomena were captured in haunting ultraviolet images by the Hubble Space Telescope, showing Jupiter’s polar regions lit up like cosmic beacons. Jupiter’s magnetosphere doesn’t just protect—it dominates, carving out a space in the Solar System that is uniquely its own.

#7: Rotation Speed (9.9 Hours vs. 24 Hours)

Despite its immense size, Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in the Solar System. One complete rotation on its axis takes just 9 hours and 55 minutes. That’s less than half of Earth’s 24-hour day. This rapid rotation causes the planet to bulge at the equator, giving it an oblate shape—flattened at the poles and widened at the middle by over 5,000 miles. This dizzying spin fuels Jupiter’s extreme atmospheric dynamics. The Coriolis effect is far more intense than on Earth, helping generate jet streams that rip across the atmosphere at hundreds of miles per hour. 

The alternating light and dark bands we see are the visible result of this turbulence, and they shift and evolve continuously. On Earth, our day-night cycle is finely tuned to biological rhythms. But on Jupiter, a day flies by in under 10 hours—if you could stand on a hypothetical floating platform, the Sun would race across the sky in less than half a workday. The sheer speed at which this massive planet rotates is a testament to the incredible forces at play during the Solar System’s formation and a sharp contrast to Earth’s more relaxed cosmic rhythm.

#8: Gravity (81.3 ft/s² vs. 32.2 ft/s²)

Earth’s gravity, at approximately 32.2 feet per second squared (ft/s²), is strong enough to keep us grounded, shape oceans, and allow for flight with sufficient engineering. It’s a balanced force—powerful but not overwhelming. On Jupiter, however, gravity is an entirely different experience. At the cloud tops, gravitational acceleration is about 81.3 ft/s², roughly 2.5 times stronger than Earth’s. Simply put, if you weighed 150 pounds on Earth, you’d weigh 375 pounds on Jupiter—assuming, of course, you could find solid ground, which you can’t.

Jupiter’s immense gravity not only crushes anything that enters its depths but also dramatically affects the orbits of nearby moons, asteroids, and even comets. It’s so strong that Jupiter has effectively vacuumed up countless space rocks over billions of years—earning it the title of the Solar System’s “cosmic bouncer.” This gravitational dominance has likely spared Earth from multiple catastrophic impacts, acting as a celestial shield and shaping the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Interestingly, gravity is also responsible for one of Jupiter’s most dramatic features—its intense atmospheric compression. The gases above are so heavily pressed that hydrogen becomes a liquid and eventually metallic in nature, conducting electricity and powering the planet’s magnetic field. On Earth, we need advanced labs to create metallic hydrogen for fractions of a second under extreme conditions. On Jupiter, nature does it routinely, thanks to gravity alone. It’s gravity on a grand scale—a force that shapes moons, warps time (through general relativity), and commands respect across the Solar System.

#9: Weather and Storms (Centuries-Long Storms vs. Short-Lived Systems)

Earth’s weather is highly dynamic but generally short-lived. Hurricanes might last a few days or weeks at most. Thunderstorms roll through in hours. And although climate shifts can happen over decades, they’re still relatively tame when compared to the eternal chaos of Jupiter’s atmosphere. On the gas giant, storms aren’t just events—they’re landmarks. The most famous of these, the Great Red Spot, is a swirling high-pressure anticyclone that has raged for at least 350 years, maybe longer. At its peak, this colossal tempest was nearly three times wider than Earth. Even now, as it slowly shrinks, it remains large enough to engulf our planet whole.

Elsewhere on Jupiter, we find enormous white ovals—other storm systems—popping up and merging, drifting, or even erupting in violent atmospheric clashes. Winds can scream past at 384 miles per hour, far exceeding the strength of the most powerful hurricanes on Earth. And unlike our water-based weather systems, Jupiter’s storms are composed of ammonia, methane, and other exotic chemicals, forming multicolored clouds under alien conditions. NASA’s Juno spacecraft has revealed a menagerie of cyclones at the poles—some arranged in near-perfect geometric patterns, defying our understanding of fluid dynamics. It’s as if Jupiter’s atmosphere plays by an entirely different rulebook. And in many ways, it does. Jupiter’s lack of a solid surface, intense internal heat, and rapid rotation combine to create a weather system that’s relentless, massive, and astonishingly beautiful. It’s not just weather—it’s cosmic theater on a planetary scale.

#10: Internal Heat (Radiates More Than It Receives vs. Earth’s Balanced Budget)

Earth’s internal heat comes from radioactive decay and leftover heat from planetary formation, but it’s relatively modest. Most of our planet’s warmth comes from the Sun, and our energy balance—what we receive from the Sun versus what we radiate back—is fairly even. Jupiter, on the other hand, emits nearly twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun. This surplus is a result of ongoing gravitational contraction and residual heat left over from its formation 4.5 billion years ago. In essence, Jupiter is still “cooling off,” and as it does, it radiates an immense amount of infrared energy into space.

This internal heat drives much of Jupiter’s dynamic atmosphere, fueling the storms and jet streams that define its appearance. Unlike Earth, where solar energy is the main driver of weather, Jupiter generates its own turbulence from within. Some scientists speculate that this heat source may even keep subsurface oceans on moons like Europa in a liquid state, creating potential habitats for life.

In a cosmic twist, Jupiter glows faintly in infrared wavelengths, invisible to our eyes but vividly apparent to space telescopes. Earth, by contrast, is a quiet heat source—warm enough to support life, but dim on the grand thermal stage. This difference isn’t just academic. It represents a fundamental divergence in planetary character: Earth is solar-powered and surface-centered, while Jupiter is self-luminous, deep, and turbulent—a planet that seems to seethe from the inside out.

Conclusion

Jupiter and Earth are siblings in the Solar System, but they couldn’t be more different. Earth is a small, rocky cradle of life, delicately balanced and temperate, with a breathable atmosphere and a stable surface. It has one moon, manageable gravity, and weather that, while sometimes fierce, is generally short-lived. Jupiter, on the other hand, is a vast, roaring colossus—a gas giant without a surface, whose storms last for centuries, whose gravity dominates an entire region of space, and whose magnetic field could swallow dozens of Earths. It has more than 90 moons, including worlds that may harbor oceans and the potential for life, and it radiates with an internal heat that defies our terrestrial norms.

Exploring the differences between these two worlds is like holding up a mirror to nature’s creativity. They remind us that planets are not stamped from a single mold. Some are built for life, others for awe. As we continue to study Jupiter through missions like Juno and future explorers like Europa Clipper, we’re not just learning about a distant planet—we’re gaining perspective on our own. We see more clearly what makes Earth so rare and precious, and we realize how much more the universe has in store, waiting just beyond the edge of our gravity-bound horizon.