Gas giant - Wikipedia
WEBA gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. [1] Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" was originally synonymous with "giant planet".
WEBWith the exception of Mercury, which has a very thin atmosphere, the high-percentage objects are the largest bodies in the solar system. The planet Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are sometimes called the Gas Giants because so much of the mass of these planets consists of a gaseous atmosphere.
10 Things: Planetary Atmospheres - NASA Science
WEBMay 14, 2018 · What makes Earth’s atmosphere special, and how do other planets’ atmospheres compare? Here are 10 tidbits: 1. On Earth, we live in the troposphere, the closest atmospheric layer to Earth’s surface. “Tropos” means “change,” and the name reflects our constantly changing weather and mixture of gases.
What is a Gas Giant? - Science@NASA
WEBA gas giant is a large planet mostly composed of helium and/or hydrogen. These planets, like Jupiter and Saturn in our solar system, don’t have hard surfaces and instead have swirling gases above a solid core.
Gas giants: Jovian planets of our solar system and beyond
WEBMar 23, 2022 · The gas giants of our solar system — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — together make up a group known as the Jovian planets, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Gas Giant Facts (The Outer Planets) - Space Facts
WEBGas giants are not all gas. Beneath the heavy atmospheres of these Jupiter and Saturn are layers of molecular hydrogen and liquid metallic hydrogen. Uranus has an icy layer over its solid rock core, and covered with a gaseous atmosphere.
Atmosphere - Planets, Composition, Pressure | Britannica
WEBAug 22, 2024 · Atmosphere - Planets, Composition, Pressure: Astronomical bodies retain an atmosphere when their escape velocity is significantly larger than the average molecular velocity of the gases present in the atmosphere. There are 8 planets and over 160 moons in the solar system.
How do planets get their atmospheres? - Astronomy Magazine
WEBSep 18, 2020 · Based on computer modeling of the planet-formation process, astronomers believe that giant worlds — such as Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus in our solar system — likely pull in gas...
Core of a gas planet seen for the first time - BBC
WEBJul 1, 2020 · Giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn have a solid planetary core beneath a thick envelope of hydrogen and helium gas. But no-one has previously been able to see what these solid cores are like.
Jupiter Facts - Science@NASA
WEBThe composition of Jupiter is similar to that of the Sun – mostly hydrogen and helium. Deep in the atmosphere, pressure and temperature increase, compressing the hydrogen gas into a liquid. This gives Jupiter the largest ocean in the solar system – an ocean made of hydrogen instead of water.