Check if object is a jQuery object

Check out the instanceof operator.

var isJqueryObject = obj instanceof jQuery

You can use the instanceof operator:

if (obj instanceof jQuery){
    console.log('object is jQuery');
}

Explanation: the jQuery function (aka $) is implemented as a constructor function. Constructor functions are to be called with the new prefix.

When you call $(foo), internally jQuery translates this to new jQuery(foo)¹. JavaScript proceeds to initialize this inside the constructor function to point to a new instance of jQuery, setting it's properties to those found on jQuery.prototype (aka jQuery.fn). Thus, you get a new object where instanceof jQuery is true.

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¹_{It's actually new jQuery.prototype.init(foo): the constructor logic has been offloaded to another constructor function called init, but the concept is the same.}

The best way to check the instance of an object is through instanceof operator or with the method isPrototypeOf() which inspects if the prototype of an object is in another object's prototype chain.

obj instanceof jQuery;
jQuery.prototype.isPrototypeOf(obj);

But sometimes it might fail in the case of multiple jQuery instances on a document. As @Georgiy Ivankin mentioned:

if I have $ in my current namespace pointing to jQuery2 and I have an object from outer namespace (where $ is jQuery1) then I have no way to use instanceof for checking if that object is a jQuery object

One way to overcome that problem is by aliasing the jQuery object in a closure or IIFE

//aliases jQuery as $
(function($, undefined) {
    /*... your code */

    console.log(obj instanceof $);
    console.log($.prototype.isPrototypeOf(obj));

    /*... your code */
}(jQuery1));
//imports jQuery1

Other way to overcome that problem is by inquiring the jquery property in obj

'jquery' in obj

However, if you try to perform that checking with primitive values, it will throw an error, so you can modify the previous checking by ensuring obj to be an Object

'jquery' in Object(obj)

Although the previous way is not the safest (you can create the 'jquery' property in an object), we can improve the validation by working with both approaches:

if (obj instanceof jQuery || 'jquery' in Object(obj)) { }

The problem here is that any object can define a property jquery as own, so a better approach would be to ask in the prototype, and ensure that the object is not null or undefined

if (obj && (obj instanceof jQuery || obj.constructor.prototype.jquery)) { }

Due to coercion, the if statement will make short circuit by evaluating the && operator when obj is any of the falsy values (null, undefined, false, 0, ""), and then proceeds to perform the other validations.

Finally we can write an utility function:

function isjQuery(obj) {
  return (obj && (obj instanceof jQuery || obj.constructor.prototype.jquery));
}

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Let's take a look at: Logical Operators and truthy / falsy

You may also use the .jquery property as described here: http://api.jquery.com/jquery-2/

var a = { what: "A regular JS object" },
b = $('body');

if ( a.jquery ) { // falsy, since it's undefined
    alert(' a is a jQuery object! ');    
}

if ( b.jquery ) { // truthy, since it's a string
    alert(' b is a jQuery object! ');
}