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Jupiter and the other Giants: A Comparative Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2010

Thérèse Encrenaz
Thérèse Encrenaz*
Affiliation:
LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, F-92190 Meudon, France email: therese.encrenaz@obspm.fr
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Abstract

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The four giant planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - have common properties which make them very different from the terrestrial planets: located at large distances from the Sun, they have big sizes and masses but low densities; they all have a ring system and a large number of satellites. These common properties can be understood in the light of their formation scenario, based upon the accretion of protosolar gas on an initial icy core. Giant planets have been explored by space missions (Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, Galileo and Cassini) but also by Earth-orbiting satellites and ground-based telescopes. There are still open questions related to the origin and evolution of the giant planets, in particular their moderate migration, the origin of the cold planetesimals which formed Jupiter, the origin of the atmospheric dynamics in Jupiter and Saturn, and the differences in the internal structures of Uranus and Neptune.

Keywords

Planets and satellites: formation, Planets and satellites: generalSolar system: formation
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 6 , Symposium S269: Galileo's Medicean Moons: their impact on 400 years of discovery , January 2010 , pp. 155 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

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