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The daily temperature of Jupiter
Jupiter is one of the five planets of the solar system, which can be seen in the night sky without any optical instruments. Still unaware of its size, ancient astronomers appropriated to it the name of the supreme Roman deity.
Meet: Jupiter!
The orbit of Jupiter is 778 million km from the Sun. The year there lasts 11.86 terrestrial years. The complete revolution around its axis the planet does in just 9 hours 55 minutes, with the speed of rotation at different latitudes is different, and the axis is almost perpendicular to the plane of the orbit, as a result of which seasonal changes are not observed.
The surface temperature of Jupiter is 133 degrees Celsius (140 K). The radius is more than 11, and the mass is 317 times greater than the radius and mass of our planet. The density (1.3 g / cm 3 ) is commensurable with the density of the Sun and is much less than the density of the Earth. The gravity on Jupiter is 2.54 times, and the magnetic field is 12 times larger than similar terrestrial parameters. The temperature in the afternoon on Jupiter is no different from the night. This is due to the significant distance from the Sun and the powerful processes taking place in the bowels of the planet.
The era of optical studies of the fifth planet was discovered in 1610 by G. Galilei. It was he who discovered the four most massive companions of Jupiter. To date, we know of 67 cosmic bodies entering the giant's planetary system.
History of research
Until the 1970s, the planet was studied using terrestrial and then orbital means in the optical, radio, and gamma ranges. The temperature of Jupiter was first estimated in 1923 by a group of scientists from the Lowell Observatory (Flagstaff, USA). Using vacuum thermocouples, the researchers found that the planet is "definitely a cold body." Photovoltaic observations of the Jupiter coverage of stars and spectroscopic analysis made it possible to infer the composition of its atmosphere.
The subsequent flights of interplanetary vehicles clarified and significantly expanded the accumulated information. Unmanned missions "Pioneer-10; 11" in 1973-1974. For the first time, images of the planet were transmitted from a close distance (34,000 km), data on the structure of the atmosphere, the presence of a magnetic and radiation belt. Voyager devices (1979), Ulysses (1992, 2000), Cassini (2000) and New Horizons (2007) produced improved measurements of the parameters of Jupiter and its planetary system, and "Galileo" (1995-2003) and "Juno" (2016) joined the ranks of artificial satellites giant.
Internal structure
The core of the planet with a diameter of about 20 thousand km, consisting of a small number of rocks and metallic hydrogen, is under pressure of 30-100 million atmospheres. The temperature of Jupiter in this zone is about 30,000 ° C. The core mass is from 3 to 15% of the total mass of the planet. The production of thermal energy by the core of Jupiter is explained by the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism. The essence of the phenomenon is that with a sudden cooling of the outer shell (the surface temperature of the planet Jupiter is -140 ° C), a pressure drop occurs, causing compression of the body and subsequent heating of the core.
The further layer, a depth of 30 to 50 thousand km, is a substance of metallic and liquid hydrogen with an admixture of helium. With the distance from the core, the pressure in this region is reduced to 2 million atmospheres, the temperature of Jupiter drops to 6000 ° C.
The structure of the atmosphere. Layers and composition
There is no clear boundary between the surface of the planet and the atmosphere. For its lower layer - the troposphere - scientists have adopted a conditional area in which the pressure corresponds to the terrestrial. Further layers, as they move away from the "surface," are arranged in the following order:
- Stratosphere (up to 320 km).
- Thermosphere (up to 1000 km).
- Exosphere.
On the question of what is the temperature on Jupiter, there is no single answer. In the atmosphere, turbulent convection processes occur due to the internal heat of the planet. The disc observed has a pronounced striatal structure. In the white bands (zones), the air masses rush upward, in the dark (belts) - fall down, forming convective cycles. In the upper layers of the thermosphere, the temperature reaches 1000 ° C, and with progressing inward and increasing pressure, it gradually falls to negative values. With the arrival of the troposphere, Jupiter's temperature begins to grow again.
The upper atmosphere is a mixture of hydrogen (90%) and helium. The composition of the lower, where the main formation of clouds occurs, also includes methane, ammonia, ammonium hydrogen sulphate and water. Spectral analysis proves the presence of traces of ethane, propane and acetylene, hydrocyanic acid and carbon monoxide, phosphorus and sulfur compounds.
Cloud tiers
The diverse color of Jovian clouds indicates the presence in their composition of complex chemical compounds. In the cloud structure, three tiers can be clearly seen:
- The upper one is saturated with crystals of frozen ammonia.
- On average, the content of ammonium hydrosulfide increases significantly.
- In the lower - water ice and, perhaps, the smallest drops of water.
Some atmospheric models developed by scientists and researchers do not exclude the presence of another cloud layer, consisting of liquid ammonia. The ultraviolet radiation of the Sun and the powerful energy potential of Jupiter initiate the flow of numerous chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere of the planet.
Atmospheric phenomena
The boundaries of zones and belts on Jupiter are characterized by strong winds (up to 200 m / sec). From the equator to the poles, the directions of the streams alternate periodically. The speed of wind with increasing latitude decreases and there are practically no poles at all. The scale of atmospheric phenomena on the planet (storms, lightning discharges, auroras) are an order of magnitude greater than terrestrial. The famous Great Red Spot is nothing more than a giant storm, larger than the size of two terrestrial disks. The spot drifts slowly from side to side. Over a hundred years of observations, its apparent size has decreased by half.
Another mission "Voyager" found that the centers of the vortex formations of the atmosphere abound with flashes of lightning, the linear dimensions of which exceed thousands of kilometers.
Is there life on Jupiter?
The question for many will cause bewilderment. Jupiter - a planet whose surface temperature (like the existence of the surface itself) has an ambiguous interpretation - it can hardly be the "cradle of reason". But the existence of biological organisms in the atmosphere of the giant in the 70's of the last century, scientists did not exclude. The fact is that in the upper layers pressure and temperature are very favorable for the occurrence and flow of chemical reactions involving ammonia or hydrocarbons. Astronomer K. Sagan and astrophysicist E. Salpeter (USA), guided by physical and chemical laws, made a bold assumption about the forms of life whose existence is not excluded in these conditions:
- Sinkers are microorganisms that can multiply rapidly and in huge quantities, which allows populations to survive in the changing conditions of convective currents.
- Floaters are gigantic individuals like balloons. Release heavy helium, drift in the upper layers.
Anyway, neither "Galileo", nor "Juno" anything similar have not found out.
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