THE INTERIORS OF GIANT PLANETS: Models and Outstanding Questions

Abstract

▪ Abstract  We know that giant planets played a crucial role in the making of our Solar System. The discovery of giant planets orbiting other stars is a formidable opportunity to learn more about these objects, what their composition is, how various processes influence their structure and evolution, and most importantly how they form. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune can be studied in detail, mostly from close spacecraft flybys. We can infer that they are all enriched in heavy elements compared to the Sun, with the relative global enrichments increasing with distance to the Sun. We can also infer that they possess dense cores of varied masses. The intercomparison of presently characterized extrasolar giant planets shows that they are also mainly made of hydrogen and helium, but that they either have significantly different amounts of heavy elements, have had different orbital evolutions, or both. Hence, many questions remain and need to be answered to make significant progress on the origins of planets. Pourquoi l'azur muet et l'espace insondable? Pourquoi les astres d'or fourmillant comme un sable? Arthur Rimbaud—Soleil et chair