There are many theories about the origins of Jupiter.
Here's what we think happened
Nearly 5 billion years ago a star in our galaxy exploded.
The explosion caused a nearby cloud of gas and dust to collapse and flatten into a spinning disk.
Most of the gas and dust collected into a hot, dense core that became our sun.
The remaining debris formed the planets and other small bodies in our solar system.
And the majority of that debris came together to form the giant planet Jupiter.
Of all the eight planets, we believe Jupiter formed first.
Understanding the formation of Jupiter is essential to understanding the origins of our entire solar system,
the formation of Earth, and the most basic foundation of life as we know it.