Jupiter was petrified

According to the results of the new computer modeling conducted by American geophysicists from the University of California, Berkeley, the sizes of the internal solid nucleus of the largest planet of the solar system of Jupiter should more than twice the previous estimates.

The new model was given the task of predicting the common properties of the hydrogen-heel and heel-heel mixture at extreme pressure and temperatures (which reign in the center of Jupiter and cannot yet be studied in laboratory conditions) based on mathematical calculations of the behavior of individual hydrogen and helium atoms. Applying the methods developed initially to study the semiconductors, Burkhard Militzer predicted the properties of hydrogen and helium at high pressure and temperatures, and its co -author William Hubbard, professor of planetary sciences from the Aryson University (University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson), laid this theoretical data the basis of the new model describing the processes that occur inside the giant gas planet (research results were published on November 20 at Astrophysical Journal Letters ).

By substituting the known parameters into the created model - mass, radius, surface temperature and data on the size of the equatorial Jupiter “hump” - scientists have found that the center of Jupiter should contain a firmware, the dimensions of which are 14-18 times superior to the mass of our land or approximately 1/20 part of the total mass of Jupiter. Previous models predicted much smaller nucleus sizes - up to about 7 mass mass.

The new modeling also shows that the core of the giant planets should partly be metal, and partly consist of stones, ice, methane, ammonia and water, while its atmosphere contains mainly hydrogen and helium. In the very center of this "stone planet" is probably a small metal ball of iron and nickel - just like in the core of the earth's core.

According to the militzer, after new research, Jupiter’s kinship to other “icy giants” - Saturn, Neptune and Uranus - will become even more obvious, because now the scientists managed to show that the extensive layer of glacious gases is tightly wrapped in the central stone core of the largest planet of the solar system. New calculations are also spared the masses of previous uncertainties, and accurate thermodynamic models carry with them a more reliable physical description of the processes flowing within Jupiter.

In a sense, Jupiter can be considered as a series of concentric shells rotating around the planet at different heights, and the outer shells - especially in the equator area - rotate faster than internal ones. Deep inside the planet under high pressure and at high temperature conditions, hydrogen changes its molecular state, becoming a "metal" one - it conducts an electric current and thereby provides Jupiter with its powerful magnetic field. However, this transition is not so sharp that was predicted on the basis of previous models.

According to the authors of the article, their modeling is very well consistent with the data obtained from the NASA "Galileo" probe, which studied the atmosphere of Jupiter in 1995. The militer also plans to use a new model to simulate the insides of other planets of the solar system and distant exoplanets. Perhaps some predictions can be checked after the launch of the Juno mission in 2011, which will reach Jupiter's orbit in 2016. The American spacecraft will then be engaged in measuring the magnetic field of the planet, its gravity, etc. One of the authors of the research described here - Hubbard - will take part in the scientific part of this mission.

Sources:

Jupiter's Rocky Core Bigger and Icier, Model Predicts - UC Berkeley - Newscenter

A Massive Core in Jupiter Predicted from Fircraples Simulations - B. Militzer, WB Hubbard, J. Vorberger, I. Tamblyn, Sa Bonev

Comparison of Jupiter Interior Models Derbed Father First -Principles Simulations - B. Militzer, WB Hubbard