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Recent Juno observations have suggested that the heavy elements in Jupiter could be diluted throughout a large fraction of its gaseous envelope, providing a stabilising compositional gradient over an extended region of the planet. This…

The magnetization of solar and extrasolar gas giants is critically dependent on electronic and mass transport coefficients of their convective fluid interiors. We analyze recent laboratory experimental results on metallic hydrogen to derive…

Jupiter's weather layer exhibits long-term and quasi-periodic cycles of meteorological activity that can completely change the appearance of its belts and zones. There are cycles with intervals from 4 to 9 years, dependent on the latitude,…

The increasing richness of exoplanet observations has motivated a variety of three-dimensional atmospheric circulation models of these planets. Under strongly irradiated conditions, models of tidally locked, short-period planets (both hot…

Through the process of thermal ionization, intense stellar irradiation renders Hot Jupiter atmospheres electrically conductive. Simultaneously, lateral variability in the irradiation drives the global circulation with peak wind speeds of…

Mean-field hydrodynamics advanced to clear explanations for the origin and properties of the global meridional flow in stellar convection zones. Qualitative arguments and analysis of basic equations both show that the meridional circulation…

Deciphering the flow below the cloud-level of Jupiter remains a critical milestone in understanding Jupiter's internal structure and dynamics. The expected high-precision Juno measurements of both the gravity field and the magnetic field…

The nature of the flow below the cloud level on Jupiter and Saturn is still unknown. Relating the flow on these planets to perturbations in their density field is key to the analysis of the gravity measurements expected from both the Juno…

Both Uranus and Neptune are thought to have strong zonal winds with velocities of several hundred meters per second. These wind velocities, however, assume solid-body rotation periods based on Voyager 2 measurements of periodic variations…

Normal mode seismology is a promising means of measuring rotation in gas giant interiors, and ring seismology presents a singular opportunity to do so at Saturn. We calculate Saturn's normal modes of oscillation and zonal gravity field,…

The statistics of extrasolar planetary systems indicate that the default mode of planet formation generates planets with orbital periods shorter than 100 days, and masses substantially exceeding that of the Earth. When viewed in this…

The temperature structure of a giant planet was traditionally thought to be an adiabat assuming convective mixing homogenizes entropy. The only in-situ measurement made by the Galileo Probe detected a near-adiabatic temperature structure…

Oxygen is the most common element after hydrogen and helium in Jupiter's atmosphere, and may have been the primary condensable (as water ice) in the protoplanetary disk. Prior to the Juno mission, in situ measurements of Jupiter's water…

Hot Jupiters, with atmospheric temperatures T ~ 1000 K, have residual thermal ionization levels sufficient for the interaction of the ions with the planetary magnetic field to result in a sizable magnetic drag on the (neutral) atmospheric…

Uranus and Neptune exhibit fast surface zonal winds that can reach up to few hundred meters per second. Previous studies on zonal gravitational harmonics and Ohmic dissipation constraints suggest that the wind speeds diminish rapidly in…

The polar cyclone at Jupiter's south pole and the five cyclones surrounding it oscillate in position and interact. These cyclones, observed since 2016 by NASA's Juno mission, present a unique opportunity to study vortex dynamics and…

Efforts to characterize extrasolar giant planet (EGP) atmospheres have so far emphasized planets within 0.05 AU of their stars. Despite this focus, known EGPs populate a continuum of orbital separations from canonical hot Jupiter values…

Relatively long-period nonsynchronized planets---such as warm Jupiters---potentially retain the primordial rotation, eccentricity, and obliquity that might encapsulate information on planetary climate and formation processes. To date, there…

An explanation is presented for the rather strong total surface differential rotation of the observed very young solar-type stars like AB Dor and PZ Tel. Due to its rapid rotation a nonuniform energy flux leaves the stellar core so that the…

Titan's equatorial regions are covered by eastward propagating linear dunes. This direction is opposite to mean surface winds simulated by Global Climate Models (GCMs), which are oriented westward at these latitudes, similar to trade winds…