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February 2, 2026<\/p>\n
1 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Jupiter isn\u2019t as huge as we thought it was<\/p>\n \u201cTextbooks will need to be updated\u201d: the solar system\u2019s largest planet appears to be smaller and flatter than we knew<\/p>\n By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n Voyager\u2019s \u201cBlue Movie\u201d of Jupiter.<\/p>\n The solar system\u2019s most giant planet is slightly less of a giant than scientists once thought. Jupiter, a world that is so huge that it could hold 1,000 Earths, is eight kilometers narrower in width at its equator and 24 kilometers flatter at its poles than had been previously estimated, according to a new study.<\/p>\n The new measurements overturn almost 50 years\u2019 worth of consensus about the size and shape of the planet.<\/p>\n \u201cTextbooks will need to be updated,\u201d said Yohai Kaspi, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and senior author of the study, in a statement. \u201cThe size of Jupiter hasn\u2019t changed, of course, but the way we measure it has.\u201d<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n Previously, scientists relied on observations by the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft, which were launched by NASA in the 1970s. But NASA\u2019s Juno mission, which launched in 2011 and reached Jupiter in 2016, has proved to be a game changer: By orbiting over Jupiter\u2019s poles for the first time, it allowed for clearer observations of Jupiter\u2019s size.<\/p>\n The research means scientists have to adjust their models of Jupiter, a change that will have resounding implications for both studying the planet\u2019s features, such its volatile atmosphere, and understanding how gas giants like Jupiter formed in the first place.<\/p>\n \u201cJupiter was likely the first planet to form in the solar system,\u201d Kaspi said in the same statement, \u201cand by studying what\u2019s happening inside it, we get closer to understanding how the solar system, and planets like ours, came to be.\u201d<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February 2, 2026 1 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Jupiter isn\u2019t as huge as we thought it was \u201cTextbooks will need to be updated\u201d: the solar system\u2019s largest planet appears to be smaller and flatter than we knew By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron Voyager\u2019s \u201cBlue Movie\u201d of Jupiter. The solar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[3384,257,9763,445],"class_list":{"0":"post-43561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-huge","9":"tag-isnt","10":"tag-jupiter","11":"tag-thought"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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