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gas giant comparison table |
Subject | has rotation period at equator | has has albedo | has equatorial diameter | has has surface temperature | has surface temperature | has orbital period | has has mean orbital velocity | has polar radiu | has inclination | is an instance of | has mean density | has rotation period | has eccentricity | has has synodic period | has albedo | has oblateness | has radiu | has been observ | has obliquity | has synodic period | has central density | has temperature | has sidereal period | has magnetic axis inclination | has mean density 1.33 g cm-3< sup> | has mean distance from Sun | has atmosphere composition | has orbital velocity | has surface gravity | has discoverer | has satelite | has magnetic axis offset | has rotational period | has magnetic field | has core composition | has number of satellite | has semi-major axi | has satellite | has apparent magnitude | has mass | has equatorial radiu | has maximum brightness | has maximum apparent brightness | has motion relative to star | has has orbital period | has rotation period at pole | has definition | has discovery date | has escape velocity | has central temperature |
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Jupiter | 0.51 | 120 K | 13.06 km s-1 | 6.7 × 109 cm | i = 1°18'18" | naked eye planet | e = 0.048 | 398.9 days | 0.065 (from Pioneer 10) | for many centuries | 3°.1 | 35 megabar | 15° to the rotational axis (data from Pioneer 10) | primarily H2 (85%) and He (14%), with traces of methane, ammonia | 2.7 that of Earth | 0.1 Jupiter radius from the center of the planet (data from Pioneer 10) | 9h50m at equator; 9h55m at polar regions (see Systems I and II longitude). | 4 gauss (data from Pioneer 10) | metallic hydrogen in a pressure-ionized liquid phase | 5.203 AU | brighter than 5 | 1.90 × 1030 g = 318 MEarth | 7.135 × 109 cm = 11 REarth | epicycloidal | 11.86 years | Fifth planet from the Sun. It is more massive than all other planets and satellites combined; if it were about 80 times more massive, it would become self-luminous due to fusion reactions. The heat flux to from the center to the surface is mainly convective. For both Jupiter and Saturn it is necessary to invoke a substantial source of internal heating (presumably gravitational contraction) to account for the surface temperature (Jupiter radiates about 2 1/2 times as much heat as it receives from the Sun). Jupiter's surface shows pronounced horizontal striations: the light layers (zones) are at a slightly higher altitude and about 15° cooler than the dark layers (belts). It is surrounded by a partial torus of atomic H in the orbit of Io. Thirteen satellites, the four outermost of which have retrograde motion, high eccentricity, and high inclination. (Jupiter XIII, discovered in 1974, has a period of 239 days; i = 26°.7, e = 0.147.) | Vesc = 61 km s-1 | 5 × 104 K | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Neptune | 164.8 years | 1°.8 | superior planet | 1.7 g cm-2 | 15h49m30s | e = 0.009 | 0.62 | 0.02 | 24500 ± 500 km | 28°.8 | 367.49 days | 30.07 AU | hydrogen and methane | Vorb = 5.43 km s-1 | 1.3 that of Earth | Johann Galle and Louis d'Arrest | Triton and Nereid | 1.03 × 1029 g | 7.6 mag | Eighth major planet out from the Sun. Discovered in by following predictions calculated by Urbain Le Verrier. Similar predictions had been made earlier by John Couch Adams but were not followed up. | 1846 | Vesc = 25 km s-1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saturn | 10h14m | 116340 km | i = 2°29'33" | naked eye planet | 0.7 g cm-3 | e = 0.056 | 0.50 | 0.1 | for many centuries | 26°44' | 378 days | Teff ≈ 160 K | 29.458 years | 9.540 AU | hydrogen and helium | Vorb = 9.65 km s-1 | 11 m s-2 | 10 | brighter than 5 | 5.7 × 1029 g = 95.2 MEarth | epicycloidal | 10h38m | Sixth major planet out from the Sun. The most spectacular of the Solar System, it is circled by a series of concentric rings. All the satellites of Saturn are locked in synchronous rotation. | Vesc = 33.1 km s-1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Uranus | 110 K | 84.0 years | i = 0°.8 | superior planet | 1.21 g cm-3 | 10h49m26s | e = 0.04 | 0.66 | 0.07 | 25400 km | 97°.9 | 369.66 days | 19.18 AU | H2 and CH4 | 6.8 km s-1 | 0.96 Earth's | Herschel | 5 major ones, all of which orbit in its equatorial plane | 8.78 × 1028 g | +5.7 mag | Seventh planet from the Sun. Has retrograde rotation. | March 13, 1781 | 22 km s-1 |
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