Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 1 October 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5437, pp. 72 - 77
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5437.72
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Review

Interiors of Giant Planets Inside and Outside the Solar System

Tristan Guillot

An understanding of the structure and composition of the giant planets is rapidly evolving because of (i) high-pressure experiments with the ability to study metallic hydrogen and define the properties of its equation of state and (ii) spectroscopic and in situ measurements made by telescopes and satellites that allow an accurate determination of the chemical composition of the deep atmospheres of the giant planets. However, the total amount of heavy elements that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune contain remains poorly constrained. The discovery of extrasolar giant planets with masses ranging from that of Saturn to a few times the mass of Jupiter opens up new possibilities for understanding planet composition and formation. Evolutionary models predict that gaseous extrasolar giant planets should have a variety of atmospheric temperatures and chemical compositions, but the radii are estimated to be close to that of Jupiter (between 0.9 and 1.7 Jupiter radii), provided that they contain mostly hydrogen and helium.

Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Département Cassini, CNRS UMR 6529, Boîte Postale 4229, 06304 Nice Cedex 04, France. E-mail: guillot{at}obs-nice.fr

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Ultrafast X-ray Thomson Scattering of Shock-Compressed Matter.
A. L. Kritcher, P. Neumayer, J. Castor, T. Doppner, R. W. Falcone, O. L. Landen, H. J. Lee, R. W. Lee, E. C. Morse, A. Ng, et al. (2008)
Science 322, 69-71
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Carbon under extreme conditions: Phase boundaries and electronic properties from first-principles theory.
A. A. Correa, S. A. Bonev, and G. Galli (2006)
PNAS 103, 1204-1208
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Pyrite-Type High-Pressure Form of Silica.
Y. Kuwayama, K. Hirose, N. Sata, and Y. Ohishi (2005)
Science 309, 923-925
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Formation of Giant Planets by Fragmentation of Protoplanetary Disks.
L. Mayer, T. Quinn, J. Wadsley, and J. Stadel (2002)
Science 298, 1756-1759
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Nonlinear Simulations of Jupiter's 5-Micron Hot Spots.
A. P. Showman and T. E. Dowling (2000)
Science 289, 1737-1740
   Abstract »    Full Text »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)