# How long ago did scientists determine that the gas giant planets were gaseous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458 "2005-05-25T17:34:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/21 "2020-12-16T12:51:13Z")
See post 4 from 2005: > [@How long ago did scientists determine that the gas giant planets were gaseous?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/): > > I seem to recall a number of the sci-fi stories of the 40s, for example, there would be a base or colony on the surface of some place like Jupiter. Seems like “Who Goes There?” (the basis for two “The Thing” movies) might have even been on Jupiter. I even recall on “The Jetsons,” that they were on Jupiter one day, and someone made a comment about how short the days were. Was this well-known to the scientific community as far back as the 1940s, and the sci-fi writers just didn’t get the memo? ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/22 "2020-12-16T12:52:58Z")
Ha! Ninja’d by 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/23 "2020-12-16T13:11:44Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > That’s John W. Campbell Jr. > > Joseph Campbell is the myth guy. You should that for him to self-correct in 2036. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/24 "2020-12-16T16:07:25Z")
On my calendar. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/25 "2020-12-16T16:13:08Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Yeah, when Joseph Campbell talks about Jupiter being gassy, that’s a whole different conversation. 😃 😆 Athena was a brain fart!! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/26 "2020-12-16T16:22:31Z")
I don’t know where the words “have left” went to, but they were supposed to be after “should.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/27 "2020-12-17T13:42:25Z")
Aah, one of the main _Avatar_ inspirations … no matter how much Cameron denies it, the parallels are too obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/28 "2020-12-17T19:30:49Z")
Stealing ideas from one person is plagiarism. Stealing from many is art. And there are a heck of lot of other works that Avatar drew inspiration from. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/29 "2020-12-18T11:00:18Z")
I remember seeing a book that contained paintings/artist impressions of the surface of all the planets in our solar system - which at the time included Pluto, because the book was from some time in (I think) the first half of the 20th century. As I recall, all of the planets were depicted as having solid surfaces and (mostly) clear skies. I don’t recall what book it was, but it was a notionally factual publication of some sort - not SF. It might have been one of the volumes of the World Book Encyclopedia. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458/30 "2020-12-18T14:06:47Z")
One of the Time-Life books? Maybe this one [https://www.amazon.com/Planets-Life-science-library-Sagan/dp/B0006BODJ2](https://www.amazon.com/Planets-Life-science-library-Sagan/dp/B0006BODJ2) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-ago-did-scientists-determine-that-the-gas-giant-planets-were-gaseous/305458.md?page=1)