How did Jupiter get its name?
Jupiter got its name for the Roman God of mythology; the leader of all the gods; The Roman equivalent of Zeus. The planet has been known since Babylonian times when they thought of it as their god Marduk. The planet is visible to the naked eye in the evening, and depending upon Earth’s position, during the day. Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are the four largest moons of Jupiter. Ganymede is larger than Mercury, and if it wasn’t a satellite of Jupiter, it would be a planet in its own right. All four of these moons were named after Jupiter’s lovers. Things that are like Jupiter in nature are referred to as Jovian; such as the four Jovian planets (Gas Giants). Jovian is also the root of the world jovial, meaning happy, an emotion attributed to the planet Jupiter.
