Space?

So..it HAS occured to me, on many occasions, that the title of this blog might be a bit misleading. I know that if I happened upon it, I'd assume it had at least something to do with space..something astronomical. Because I never intended for anyone to really read anything here, the title wasn't so important a year or so ago when I created it. I just wanted a place to put things I couldn't keep in my head, and I AM Space Dog...so. *grin*
Anyway, it just so happens that I very much love all things astronomical and always have, so I hereby dub this week Space Week. This way I'm at least not disappointing anybody looking for spacey stuff for a few days. (Wow..I make it sound like I have herds of readers or something..lol.)
I'm going to do my best to post something everyday through Saturday.
Tonight's post, because I can't be where I want to be, is about Jupiter:

It's believed that Jupiter is a failed sun. I think everyone knows it's the largest and fifth planet from the sun, but lesser known is the fact that it is the only planet that has a center of mass with the Sun that lies outside the volume of the Sun, though by only 7% of the Sun's radius. The average distance between Jupiter and the Sun is 778 million km (about 5.2 times the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, or 5.2 AU) and it completes an orbit every 11.86 years. Jupiter's rotation is the fastest of all the Solar System's planets, completing a rotation on its axis in slightly less than ten hours; this creates an equatorial bulge easily seen through an Earth-based amateur telescope (it's true..I've seen it).
Along with the Sun, the gravitational influence of Jupiter has helped shape the Solar System. The orbits of most of the system's planets lie closer to Jupiter's orbital plane than the Sun's equatorial plane (Mercury is the only planet that is closer to the Sun's equator in orbital tilt), the Kirkwood gaps in the asteroid belt are mostly caused by Jupiter, and the planet may have been responsible for the Late Heavy Bombardment of the inner Solar System's history.
Along with its moons, Jupiter's gravitational field controls numerous asteroids that have settled into the regions of the Lagrangian points preceding and following Jupiter in its orbit around the sun. These are known as the Trojan asteroids, and are divided into Greek and Trojan "camps" to commemorate the Iliad. The first of these, 588 Achilles, was discovered by Max Wolf in 1906; since then more than two thousand have been discovered. The largest is 624 Hektor.
Most short-period comets belong to the Jupiter family—defined as comets with semi-major axes smaller than Jupiter's. Jupiter family comets are believed to form in the Kuiper belt outside the orbit of Neptune. During close encounters with Jupiter their orbits are perturbed into a smaller period and then circularized by regular gravitational interaction with the Sun and Jupiter.
Jupiter also has 63 named natural satellites. Of these, 47 are less than 10 kilometers in diameter and have only been discovered since 1975. The four largest moons, known as the "Galilean moons", are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Galileo Galilei is credited with discovering them in 1610, using only a telescope.
Then, of course, there's the Great Red Spot (pictured above)..a swirling mass of gas resembling a hurricane. The widest diameter of the spot is about three times that of Earth. The color of the spot usually varies from brick-red to slightly brown. Rarely, the spot fades entirely. Its color may be due to small amounts of sulfur and phosphorus in the ammonia crystals. The edge of the Great Red Spot circulates at a speed of about 225 miles (360 kilometers) per hour. The spot remains at the same distance from the equator but drifts slowly east and west.

Over here on Earth, Jupiter was assigned different functions, however. Because it's so large and is either the fourth or fifth brightest object in the sky, after the Sun, Moon, Venus, and sometimes Mars, it has obviously been visible to the naked eye since ancient times. The ancient Greeks associated Jupiter with their ruling god, Zeus. He was the rain god and lord of the sky, making his name an appropriate one for the king of the planets. His weapon is a thunderbolt, which he hurls at those who displease him. He is married to Hera but, is famous for his many affairs, and is also known to punish those that lie or break oaths. The Romans renamed him Jupiter, and he held the same general function in their mythology, but it varied over time. In the early Republican era, when Rome was an agricultural city, he first appeared as an agricultural god in charge of sun and moonlight (Jupiter Lucetius), wind, rain, storms, thunder and lightning (Jupiter Elicius), sowing (Jupiter Dapalis), creative forces (Jupiter Liber) and the boundary stones of fields (Jupiter Terminus).
As Rome developed into a city of commerce and military force, Jupiter evolved into a protector of the city and state of Rome. As with his earlier agricultural form, he could be invoked through a variety of titles, each dependent on the responsibilities being requested of him :

As a warrior god - JUPITER STATOR, FERETRIUS and VICTOR.
As great god of the Empire - JUPITER OPTIMUS MAXIMUS.
As protector of the Empire - JUPITER CONSERVATOR ORBIS
As protector of the Emperor - JUPITER CONSERVATOR AUGUSTORUM

According to Hindu mythology, Jupiter is considered to be the teacher of gods, or Devas. In Vedic astrology the planet Jupiter is known as Guru, Brihaspati and Devagura. Jupiter is a good indicator of fortune, wealth, fame, luck, devotion, wisdom, compassion, spirituality, religion and morality.
The 12 years of the Chinese Zodiac (also recognized in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam) originated outside of China proper, perhaps in the northern-central Asia. These 12 signs derive not from the 12 months of the year, but from the 12 years of the Jupiter cycle (it's orbit). Jupiter is known as the Year Star.
In Norse mythology, Jupiter is closely related to the hammer-wielding god, Thor, associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, destruction, fertility, healing, and the protection of mankind. Thursday (Thor's Day) is named for him.