Coupled Clouds and Chemistry of the Giant Planets— A Case for Multiprobes
@article{Atreya2005CoupledCA, title={Coupled Clouds and Chemistry of the Giant Planets— A Case for Multiprobes}, author={Sushil K. Atreya and Andrew See Weng Wong}, journal={Space Science Reviews}, year={2005}, volume={116}, pages={121-136} }
In seeking to understand the formation of the giant planets and the origin of their atmospheres, the heavy element abundance in well-mixed atmosphere is key. However, clouds come in the way. Thus, composition and condensation are intimately intertwined with the mystery of planetary formation and atmospheric origin. Clouds also provide important clues to dynamical processes in the atmosphere. In this chapter we discuss the thermochemical processes that determine the composition, structure, and…
68 Citations
Neutral Atmospheres of the Giant Planets: An Overview of Composition Measurements
- Physics, Geology
- 2005
Measurements of the chemical composition of the giant planets provide clues of their formation and evolution processes. According to the currently accepted nucleation model, giant planets formed from…
Oxygen and Other Volatiles in the Giant Planets and their Satellites
- Physics, Geology
- 2008
Giant planet atmospheric composition and satellite densities provide insights into protoplanetary disk conditions. Abundances of condensable species and noble gases in wellmixed atmospheres can…
Three-dimensional modeling of the stratospheres of gas giants
- Physics, Environmental Science
- 2014
Stratospheres of giant gas planets of the Solar System (Jupiter and Saturn) extend above the cloud top layers near the tropopause to the lower thermosphere, and have a thickness of about 14 density…
MULTIPROBE EXPLORATION OF THE GIANT PLANETS – SHALLOW PROBES
- Physics, Geology
- 2006
Comparative planetology of the giant planets is key to the origin and evolution of the solar system and, by extension, extrasolar systems. In particular, elemental composition of well-mixed…
Atmospheric Planetary Probes and Balloons in the Solar System
- Physics, Geology
- 2011
A primary motivation for in situ probe and balloon missions in the solar system is to progressively constrain models of its origin and evolution. Specifically, understanding the origin and evolution…
In Situ exploration of the giant planets
- Physics, Geology
- 2019
Remote sensing observations suffer significant limitations when used to study the bulk atmospheric composition of the giant planets of our Solar System. This impacts our knowledge of the formation of…
Convective storms and atmospheric vertical structure in Uranus and Neptune
- Physics, GeologyPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A
- 2020
A combination of orbital and in situ data will be required to understand convection and its role in atmospheric dynamics in the ice giants, and by extension, in hydrogen atmospheres including Jupiter, Saturn and giant exoplanets.
The Origin and Evolution of Saturn, with Exoplanet Perspective
- Physics, GeologySaturn in the 21st Century
- 2018
Saturn formed beyond the snow line in the primordial solar nebula that made it possible for it to accrete a large mass. Disk instability and core accretion models have been proposed for Saturn's…
Deep Atmosphere Composition, Structure, Origin, and Exploration, with Particular Focus on Critical in situ Science at the Icy Giants
- Geology, Physics
- 2020
A comprehensive exploration of Uranus and Neptune is essential to understand the formation and evolution of the giant planets, in particular, solar system, in general, and, by extension, a vast…
Atmospheric Dynamics and Vertical Structure of Uranus and Neptune’s Weather Layers
- Physics, Environmental Science
- 2019
The Icy Giants Uranus and Neptune have similar rotation periods, large orbital inclinations and intense zonal winds at the visible cloud level. The winds are organized into three broad jets: a zonal…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 36 REFERENCES
Composition, clouds, and origin of Jupiter's atmosphere - A case for deep multiprobes into giant planets
- Physics, Geology
- 2004
Current hypotheses of the formation of Jupiter and evolution of its atmosphere invoke large quantities of water, so that O/H = 1–3 × any of the other heavy elements, C, N, S, Ar, Kr, and Xe, that are…
A comparison of the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn: deep atmospheric composition, cloud structure, vertical mixing, and origin.
- Physics, GeologyPlanetary and space science
- 1999
A low-temperature origin for the planetesimals that formed Jupiter
- Physics, GeologyNature
- 1999
It is shown that argon, krypton and xenon in Jupiter's atmosphere are enriched to the same extent as the other heavy elements, which suggests that the planetesimals carrying these elements must have formed at temperatures lower than predicted by present models of giant-planet formation.
Benzene and Haze Formation in the Polar Atmosphere of Jupiter
- Physics, Geology
- 2003
Jupiter has a large magnetosphere that episodically precipitates large amounts of energy into the polar atmosphere, giving rise to intense auroras [ Clarke et al., 1996 ; Grodent et al., 2000 ]. An…
Composition and origin of the atmosphere of Jupiter—an update, and implications for the extrasolar giant planets
- Physics, Geology
- 2003
Clouds and aerosols in Saturn's atmosphere
- Environmental Science, Physics
- 1984
In this chapter we review the photochemical and thermochemical equilibrium theories for the formation of condensate clouds and photochemical haze in Saturn's upper troposphere and stratosphere and…
Models for Polar Haze Formation in Jupiter's Stratosphere
- Physics, Environmental Science
- 2002
We present coupled chemical–microphysical models for the formation, growth, and physical properties of the jovian polar haze based on a gas-phase photochemical model for the auroral regions developed…
Models of Uranus' interior and magnetic field
- Geology, Physics
- 1991
Our understanding of Uranus' interior structure comes from the results of theoretical
models. In this chapter, we review the methods for computing such models.
We discuss the various physical…