Jovian Planets

Abstract

The four giant planets in the outer solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are a distinct group by themselves. The essential astronomical and atmospheric aspects of these planets are summarized in table 5.1. The significance of this group in the chemistry of the solar system is briefly pointed out in chapter 4. These planets are composed primarily of the lightest elements, hydrogen and helium, which were captured from the solar nebula during formation. The planets have rocky cores made of heavier elements. In the case of Jupiter and Saturn the mass of the gas greatly exceeds that of the core, whereas for Uranus and Neptune the masses of gas and core are comparable. Due to the enormous gravity of the giant planets, little mass has escaped from their atmospheres. Hence, the bulk composition of these planets provides a good measure of the initial composition of the solar nebula from which they were derived. Of all planetary bodies in the solar system, the constituents of giant planets are the closest to the cosmic abundances of the elements. The chemistry of the atmospheres of the giant planets is interesting for the following reasons:… 1. chemistry in a dominantly reducing atmosphere 2. interplay between photochemistry and equilibrium chemistry 3. ion chemistry in polar auroral regions 4. heterogeneous chemistry of aerosols 5. chemistry of meteoritic debris 6. lack of a planetary "surface"… We briefly comment on these reasons in this section. Each topic will receive a more detailed treatment in later sections. First of all, the atmospheres of the Jovian planets are more than 90% hydrogen and helium. Since helium is inert, the atmospheric chemistry is dominated by hydrogen. Therefore, we would expect the most stable compounds of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus to be CH4, H2O, NHa, and PHs. This is in fact confirmed by the available observed composition of the bulk atmospheres of these planets. However, in the upper atmospheres of these planets, the composition is controlled by photochemistry.