Why jovian planets

Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have cores of rock and metal, but also water, methane and ammonia. The layer surrounding the core is made of gaseous hydrogen, covered with a layer of visible clouds similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's. Just like the terrestrial planets, the deeper you go, the hotter and denser it gets.

An increase in temperature and density means an increase in pressure. The Jovian Planets click to enlarge. Back to top. How Rotation Affects Planet Shapes click to enlarge. Jupiter with its moons Europa closest in and Callisto aligned with the planet's center. Saturn's rings with moons Janus topmost and Pandora. Cloud Altitudes in Jovian Planet Atmospheres. Jovial Planet Interiors click to enlarge.

The primary difference is that the atmospheres get progressively cooler the farther away they are from Sun. Uranus and Neptune, due to their even lower temperatures, are able to hold condensed methane in their very cold tropospheres, whereas Jupiter and Saturn cannot.

The presence of this methane is what gives Uranus and Neptune their hazy blue color, where Jupiter is orange-white in appearance due to the intermingling of hydrogen which gives off a red appearance , while the upwelling of phosphorus, sulfur, and hydrocarbons yield spotted patches areas and ammonia crystals create white bands.

The atmosphere of Jupiter is classified into four layers based on increasing altitude: the troposphere, stratosphere, thermosphere and exosphere. Temperature and pressure increase with depth, which leads to rising convection cells emerging that carry with them the phosphorus, sulfur, and hydrocarbons that interact with UV radiation to give the upper atmosphere its spotted appearance.

Hence why it is similarly colored, though its bands are much fainter and are much wider near the equator resulting in a pale gold color. Both planets also have clouds composed of ammonia crystals in their upper atmospheres, with a possible thin layer of water clouds underlying them.

The troposphere is the densest layer, and also happens to be the coldest in the solar system. Within the troposphere are layers of clouds, with methane clouds on top, ammonium hydrosulfide clouds, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide clouds, and water clouds at the lowest pressures.

Next is the stratosphere, which contains ethane smog, acetylene and methane, and these hazes help warm this layer of the atmosphere. Here, temperatures increase considerably, largely due to solar radiation.

This is something that Uranus shares with Neptune, which also experiences unusually high temperatures in its thermosphere about K Like Uranus, Neptune is too far from the Sun for this heat to be generated through the absorption of ultraviolet radiation, which means another heating mechanism is involved.

Its atmosphere can be subdivided into two main regions: the lower troposphere where temperatures decrease with altitude , and the stratosphere where temperatures increase with altitude. Saturn's mass is 5. Saturn is the only planet less dense than water about 30 percent less. It has a beautiful, big and rich system of mostly icy rings. It has one large moon called Titan and many smaller moons.

Uranus' mass is 8. Its equatorial diameter is 51, kilometers 32, miles. It also has a ring family, five big moons and many smaller moons. Its rotational axis lies near its orbital plane, so it appears at times as if it is rolling on its orbit.

Small amounts of rocky materials are only found deep in the cores of Jovian planets. In the solar system, Jovian planets are located farther from the sun than terrestrial planets, and are therefore cooler.

Scientists have found more than Jovian planets around other stars. The majority of the extrasolar Jovian planets that have been discovered so far are closer to their stars than the Jovian planets in the solar system are to the sun. The atmospheres of the Jovian planets in our solar system are made mostly of hydrogen and helium. Compounds containing hydrogen, such as water, ammonia, and methane, are also present.

Differences in the amounts of these trace gases and variations in the temperatures of these planets contribute to the different colors seen in images taken in visible light.