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Because Jupiter is the largest and most impressive of the four gas and liquid giants. It's also the one closest to us, the brightest in the sky of the four, and thus most easily seen. For the same reasons, it was given the name of the king of the gods in Roman mythology (the equivalent of Zeus in Greek myth), the sky father. Another name for Jupiter was Jove.
Andrew Fraknoi
Co-author of the free introductory astronomy textbook, OpenStax Astronomy, at: http://bit.ly/astronomytextbook
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