Compared to the relative closeness of the first four planets, out to the orbit of Jupiter is quite a jump.  Jupiter  holds the record for the largest planet in the solar system, but its size is not supported by its mass.  It's called a "gas giant", being made up of gaseous material that makes it have the lowest mass for its volume of all the planets  Jupiter is more than 10 Earth diameters across, but is only one-quarter the density of Earth.  Jupiter has a large spot on its surface, a constant hurricane that changes in size from time to time.  It's a "flattened" planet, being larger in size at the equator than in other directions, because of the rotation flowing the gases out at that point.  Jupiter has four moons, and has been photographed by several Voyager missions.

More information on Jupiter:

http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/choices/jupiter1.htm

http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/jupiter.html

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Page by Francis Perry, April 2002