Gas giant
hideA gas giant (sometimes also known as a Jovian planet after the planet Jupiter, or giant planet) is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in our Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Many extrasolar gas giants have been identified orbiting other stars.
Gas giants can be subdivided into different types. The "traditional" gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, are composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Uranus and Neptune are sometimes considered a separate subclass called ice giants, as they are mostly composed of water, ammonia, and methane; the hydrogen and helium in Uranus and Neptune is mostly in the outermost region. Among extrasolar planets, Hot Jupiters are gas giants that orbit very close to their stars and thus have a very high surface temperature; perhaps due to the relative ease of detecting them, Hot Jupiters are currently the most common form of extrasolar planet known.
Gas giants are commonly described as lacking a solid surface, although a more accurate description is to say that they lack a clearly-defined surface. Although they have rocky or metallic cores - in fact, such a core is thought to be required for a gas giant to form - the majority of the mass of Jupiter and Saturn is hydrogen and helium. In the planet's upper layers, these elements are gaseous, as they are on Earth, but further down in the planet's interior, they become compressed into liquids or solids, which become denser toward the core. Similarly, although the majority of Uranus and Neptune is icy, the extreme heat and pressure of these planets' interiors put the ices into less familiar physical states. Therefore, one cannot "land on" gas giants in a traditional sense. Terms such as diameter, surface area, volume, surface temperature, and surface density may refer only to the outermost layer visible from space.
For more information about Gas giant, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with gas giants
Adventures in the 'Goldilocks zone'
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 12, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
When NASA's Kepler telescope rocketed into the night sky last week, two Berkeley astronomers watching its fading contrail were hoping that the telescope will reveal Earth's — and humanity's — place in the ...
Exploring planets in distant space and deep interiors
Feb 14, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
1
In recent years researchers have found hundreds of new planets beyond our solar system, raising questions about the origins and properties of these exotic worlds—not to mention the possible presence of life. Speaking at a ...
Baby Jupiters must gain weight fast
Jan 05, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
0
The planet Jupiter gained weight in a hurry during its infancy. It had to, since the material from which it formed probably disappeared in just a few million years, according to a new study of planet formation ...
Search results for gas giants
Keck Telescopes Take Deeper Look at Planetary Nurseries
19 hours ago |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory have peered far into a young planetary system, giving an unprecedented view of dust and gas that might eventually form planets similar to Jupiter, ...
Scientists map speed of climate change
22 hours ago |
3.1 / 5 (18) |
15
New study finds that the average ecosystem will need to shift about a quarter mile per year to keep pace with global climate change.
Vampires and collisions rejuvenate stars
22 hours ago |
4.3 / 5 (7) |
2
Stars in globular clusters are generally extremely old, with ages of 12-13 billion years. However, a small fraction of them appear to be significantly younger than the average population and, because they ...
Turtles' Christmas journey tracked by scientists
Dec 23, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
The journeys of two marine turtles around the world's oceans will be available to view online this Christmas, thanks to a new research project launched by the University of Exeter.
Filipino troops try to keep volcano evacuees safe
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 23, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
(AP) -- Police and soldiers donned Santa hats and red clown noses and belted out songs in crammed evacuation centers in hopes of keeping 47,000 displaced residents from sneaking back to their homes on the ...
Novel nanotechnology heals abscesses caused by resistant staph bacteria
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 22, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a new approach for treating and healing skin abscesses caused by bacteria resistant to most antibiotics. The study ...
Astronomers discover 'tilted planets'
Dec 22, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (15) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Exeter, UK, research has added to a growing evidence that several giant planets have orbits so tilted that their orbits can be perpendicular or even backwards relative to their ...
NREL Evaluates UPS Hybrid-Electric Van Performance
Dec 22, 2009 |
3.3 / 5 (3) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has collected and analyzed fuel economy, maintenance and other vehicle performance data from UPS’s first generation hybrid diesel ...
Accelerators and Light Sources of Tomorrow (Part 2: Accelerating with Light)
Dec 22, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
0
Accelerators are far from achieving the highest energies their builders aspire to, but size and cost may limit the kinds of facilities funding agencies can support. In the future, new kinds of machines will ...
Accelerators and Light Sources of Tomorrow (Part 1: From Linacs to Lasers)
Dec 22, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
2
From their humble beginnings as offshoots of the ordinary electric light bulb, particle accelerators have evolved in surprising directions. Among the most productive and promising developments have been light ...
List of search results for gas giants
