Related papers: Reconstructing wind fields from gravitational data…
The shape of the two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, is determined primarily by their rotation rate, and interior density distribution. It is also affected by their zonal winds, causing an anomaly of O(10 km) at low latitudes. However,…
During 2016-17 the Juno and Cassini spacecraft will both perform close eccentric orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively, obtaining high-precision gravity measurements for these planets. This data will be used to estimate the depth of…
During the past few years, both the Cassini mission at Saturn and the Juno mission at Jupiter, provided measurements with unprecedented accuracy of the gravity and magnetic fields of the two gas giants. Using the gravity measurements, it…
The weather layers of the gas giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, comprise the shallow atmospheric layers that are influenced energetically by a combination of incoming solar radiation and localised latent heating of condensates, as well as…
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…
Giant planets acquire gas, ices and rocks during the early formation stages of planetary systems and thus inform us on the formation process itself. Proceeding from inside out, examining the connections between the deep interiors and the…
Gas giant planets, if present, are the most massive objects in a planetary system and play a pivotal role in shaping its overall architecture. The formation of these planets has constantly been a central issue in planetary science.…
The nature and structure of the observed east-west flows on Jupiter and Saturn has been one of the longest-lasting mysteries in planetary science. This mystery has been recently unraveled due to the accurate gravity measurements provided by…
Gaseous giants are characterized by their deep atmospheres, which lack clear boundaries with their interiors; therefore, their internal states could directly influence atmospheric dynamics. So far, most modeling studies have considered deep…
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…
Gas giant planets are differentially rotating magnetic objects that have strong and complex interactions with their environment. In our Solar system, they interact with their numerous moons while exoplanets with very short orbital periods…
Observations of the flow on Jupiter exists essentially only for the cloud-level, which is dominated by strong east-west jet-streams. These have been suggested to result from dynamics in a superficial thin weather-layer, or alternatively be…
The giant planet atmospheres exhibit alternating prograde (eastward) and retrograde (westward) jets of different speeds and widths, with an equatorial jet that is prograde on Jupiter and Saturn and retrograde on Uranus and Neptune. The jets…
Observations from the Juno and Cassini missions provide essential constraints on the internal structures and compositions of Jupiter and Saturn, resulting in profound revisions of our understanding of the interior and atmospheres of Gas…
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…
Revealing the true nature of the gas giant planets in our Solar System is challenging. The masses of Jupiter and Saturn are about 318 and 95 Earth masses, respectively. While they mostly consist of hydrogen and helium, the total mass and…
The equatorial jets dominating the dynamics of the Jovian planets exhibit two distinct types of zonal flows: strongly eastward in the gas giants (superrotation) and strongly westward in the ice giants (subrotation). Existing theories…
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…
The recent gravity field measurements of Jupiter (Juno) and Saturn (Cassini) confirm the existence of deep zonal flows reaching to a depth of 5\% and 15\% of the respective radius. Relating the zonal wind induced density perturbations to…
We give an overview of our current understanding of the structure of gas giant planets, from Jupiter and Saturn to extrasolar giant planets. We focus on addressing what high-pressure laboratory experiments on hydrogen and helium can help to…