# What's inside of Jupiter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423 "2006-04-12T19:46:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/1 "2006-04-12T19:46:21Z")
For the longest time I’ve been under the impression that Jupiter was either 100% clouds or mostly clouds with a small, solid, Earthlike core. I know, it doesn’t make much sense, what with all the gravity and stuff. After watching an episode of Cosmos, I now understand that the cloud layer is quite thin. But what’s the rest of it made of? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/2 "2006-04-12T19:57:56Z")
In about .01 of a second I Googled this: The gas planets do not have solid surfaces, their gaseous material simply gets denser with depth (the radii and diameters quoted for the planets are for levels corresponding to a pressure of 1 atmosphere). What we see when looking at these planets is the tops of clouds high in their atmospheres (slightly above the 1 atmosphere level). Jupiter is about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium (by numbers of atoms, 75/25% by mass) with traces of methane, water, ammonia and “rock”. This is very close to the composition of the primordial Solar Nebula from which the entire solar system was formed. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/3 "2006-04-12T20:11:31Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > In about .01 of a second I Googled this: Yeah, I should have checked there first. So it looks like the answer is: Soup. Sort of. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/4 "2006-04-12T20:13:54Z")
Since the question has already been answered: Penguins. Giant hairy penguins with red eyes and TEEF LIKE THIS (demonstrates). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/5 "2006-04-12T20:15:12Z")
Minerva’s younger sister, waiting to spring forth. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/6 "2006-04-12T20:15:34Z")
More Jupiter. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/7 "2006-04-12T20:18:09Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Minerva’s younger sister, waiting to spring forth. Becky? Cool. I likes me some Becky. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/8 "2006-04-12T20:26:39Z")
Tons and tons of Jupitery goodness. More seriously, [here](http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Jovian/structure.html) [are](http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/jupiter/interior/J_int_structure_overview.html) a couple helpful pages on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/9 "2006-04-12T20:28:44Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > In about .01 of a second I Googled this: > > The gas planets do not have solid surfaces, their gaseous material simply gets denser with depth (the radii and diameters quoted for the planets are for levels corresponding to a pressure of 1 atmosphere). What we see when looking at these planets is the tops of clouds high in their atmospheres (slightly above the 1 atmosphere level). > > Jupiter is about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium (by numbers of atoms, 75/25% by mass) with traces of methane, water, ammonia and “rock”. This is very close to the composition of the primordial Solar Nebula from which the entire solar system was formed. Would you mind posting the link? I ask because most of this makes very little sense to me. I would think that eventually you’d get to a point where gravity was pulling so hard that the gases would condense down to a liquid and, deeper still, a solid. In fact, [this cite](http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/jupiter_giant_cores.html?2822006) suggests that strange things happen in gas giant cores, like rocks and crystals behaving like metals: > [@](#): > > University of Minnesota researchers Renata Wentzcovitch and Koichiro Umemoto and Philip B. Allen of Stony Brook University have modeled the properties of rocks at the temperatures and pressures likely to exist at the cores of Jupiter, Saturn and two exoplanets far from the solar system. They show that rocks in these environments are different from those on Earth and have metallic-like electric and thermal conductivity. These properties can produce different terrestrial-type planets, with longer-lasting magnetic fields, enhanced heat flow to the planetary surfaces and, consequently, more intense “planetquake” and volcanic activity. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/10 "2006-04-12T20:28:48Z")
I hear there’s a solid object inside Uranus. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/11 "2006-04-12T20:31:32Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I hear there’s a solid object inside Uranus. No! No! Didn’t you read the article last week? There’s rings around Uranus, and they’re blue. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/12 "2006-04-12T20:48:49Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > More Jupiter. Damn it! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/13 "2006-04-12T21:32:41Z")
A single gigantic diamond. And monoliths. Lots of monoliths. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/14 "2006-04-12T22:06:37Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > A single gigantic diamond. > > And monoliths. Lots of monoliths. My God, it’s full of stars. And a giant space fetus. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/15 "2006-04-12T23:09:42Z")
I’ve heard the giant diamond theory proposed seriously, the thinking being that the carbon would settle to the center and become compressed into diamond. Has this been generally debunked, or was it never taken seriously to begin with? ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/16 "2006-04-12T23:14:29Z")
Nougat. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/17 "2006-04-12T23:31:00Z")
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter#Planetary\_composition:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter#Planetary_composition:) > [@](#): > > Jupiter is composed of a relatively small rocky core, surrounded by metallic hydrogen, surrounded by liquid hydrogen, which is surrounded by gaseous hydrogen. There is no clear boundary or surface between these different phases of hydrogen; the conditions blend smoothly from gas to liquid as one descends. Is that just theoretical? Has any probe ever been sent down into Jupiter’s atmosphere? Still – if it has a “rocky core,” then it must, at some point, have a surface, something you could stand on (gravity permitting) and plant a flag. Right? Or am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/18 "2006-04-12T23:38:10Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I’ve heard the giant diamond theory proposed seriously, the thinking being that the carbon would settle to the center and become compressed into diamond. Has this been generally debunked, or was it never taken seriously to begin with? Dunno, but it would really piss off De Beers. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/19 "2006-04-13T02:08:09Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > No! No! Didn’t you read the article last week? There’s rings around Uranus, and they’re blue. Geez, I gotta cut back on the blueberries. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423/20 "2006-04-13T03:49:21Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I’ve heard the giant diamond theory proposed seriously, the thinking being that the carbon would settle to the center and become compressed into diamond. Has this been generally debunked, or was it never taken seriously to begin with? The only place I’ve ever seen it proposed was in the novel _2061_ and I don’t remember seeing it anywhere else. Clarke mentions an article in _Nature_ called “Diamonds in the Sky?” from 1981. (This is according to Wikipedia, as I don’t remember all of this. The book is not really a great read.) I don’t have online full-text access to that year, but the article (as a letter to the editor) does in fact exist. I can print the abstract. "_Nature_ **292** , 435-436 (30 July 1981) The ice layer in Uranus and Neptune—diamonds in the sky? Marvin Ross University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA Many of the current models of Uranus and Neptune postulate a three-layer structure, consisting of an inner rocky core, a middle ‘ice’ layer of fluid, H2O, CH4, NH3 and an outer hydrogen−helium layer of solar composition. The estimated pressures and temperatures of the ice layer ranges from about 6Mbar and 7,000 K at the inner core-ice boundary, to approx0.2 Mbar and 2,200 K at the outer ice/hydrogen−helium boundary. I point out here that shockwave experiments on these liquids, as well as theoretical studies, imply that the H2O and NH3 in the ice layer are almost totally ionized and the CH4 has been pyrolysed to carbon, possibly in the metallic or diamond form." I have no idea what happened either way with the idea. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-inside-of-jupiter/352423.md?page=2)