Related papers: Ice Giant System Exploration in the 2020s: An Intr…
Uranus and Neptune are the least explored planets in the Solar System. A key question regarding the two planets is the similarity of their observed flows despite the great differences in their obliquity and internal heating. To answer this…
Comparatively little is known about atmospheric chemistry on Uranus and Neptune, because remote spectral observations of these cold, distant ``Ice Giants'' are challenging, and each planet has only been visited by a single spacecraft during…
The magnetic fields of the Ice Giant Planets Uranus and Neptune (U/N) are unique in the solar system. Based on a substantial database measured on Earth for representative planetary fluids at representative dynamic pressures up to 200 GPa (2…
Studying the interiors of the outer planets is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of our planetary system, and provides key knowledge on the origin of the solar system, the behavior of materials at extreme conditions, the relation…
The giant planets were the first to form and hold the key to unveiling the solar system's formation history in their interiors and atmospheres. Furthermore, the unique conditions present in the interiors of the giant planets make them…
Determining the internal structure of Uranus is a key objective for planetary science. Knowledge of Uranus's bulk composition and the distribution of elements is crucial to understanding its origin and evolutionary path. In addition, Uranus…
I discuss the feasibility of a conceptual space-based neutrino detector that utilizes the Ice Giants as Targets for Galactic Neutrinos. The purpose of this research stems from the concept of wanting to find a new method of observing the…
Laying the Vision and Voyages (V&V, National Research Council 2011) Decadal Survey 2013-2022 objectives against subsequent budget profiles reveals that separate missions to every desirable target in the Solar System are simply not…
Planned astronomical observatories of the 2020s will be capable of obtaining reflected light photometry and spectroscopy of cool extrasolar giant planets. Here we explain that such data are valuable both for understanding the origin and…
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 these planets and the physics of their…
We review the interior structure and evolution of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and giant exoplanets with particular emphasis on constraining their global composition. Compared to the first edition of this review, we provide a new…
We know that giant planets played a crucial role in the making of our Solar System. The discovery of giant planets orbiting other stars is a formidable opportunity to learn more about these objects, what is their composition, how various…
At the far reaches of the outer Solar System, the ice giants remain the last class of planets yet to be studied using orbiters. The 2023-2032 Planetary Science Decadal Survey has underscored the importance of the ice giants in understanding…
Recent studies of solar system formation suggest that the solar system's giant planets formed and migrated in the protoplanetary disk to reach resonant orbits with all planets inside 15 AU from the Sun. After the gas disk's dispersal,…
Reproducing Uranus and Neptune remains a challenge for simulations of solar system formation. The ice giants' peculiar obliquities suggest that they both suffered giant collisions during their formation. Thus, there must have been an epoch…
Among exoplanets, the small-size population constitutes the dominant one, with a diversity of properties and compositions ranging from rocky to gas dominated envelope. While a large fraction of them have masses and radii similar to or…
The existence of Uranus and Neptune presents severe difficulties for the core accretion model for the formation of ice giant planets. We suggest an alternative mechanism, namely disk instability leading to the formation of gas giant…
Uranus and Neptune are commonly considered ice giants, and it is often assumed that, in addition to a solar mix of hydrogen and helium, they contain roughly twice as much water as rock. This classical picture has led to successful models of…
We discuss our current understanding of the interior structure and thermal evolution of giant planets. This includes the gas giants, such as Jupiter and Saturn, that are primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, as well as the "ice…
Lightning was detected by Voyager 2 at Uranus and Neptune, and weaker electrical processes also occur throughout planetary atmospheres from galactic cosmic ray (GCR) ionisation. Lightning is an indicator of convection, whereas electrical…