Jupiter's land mass: It doesn't really have any!

Does Jupiter have any land mass?

No. Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, which means that their atmospheres are mainly composed of hydrogen and helium. Hydrogen in a larger proportion than helium. Jupiter’s landmass does not include a well-defined solid surface. It is just layers of atmosphere, increasing in density as we go towards the center of the planet. So, if you were to grab a parachute and dive into Jupiter’s atmosphere from space, you would die before you reach the planet’s core due to increasing pressure or temperature or a variety of other factors.

So what is Jupiter made up of?

The core of Jupiter’s land mass is theorized to be composed of either hot molten liquid or solid rock. Theorized being the keyword because we can’t tell for sure as of now. This core is also thought to be surrounded by a layer of metallic hydrogen which extends upward till up to 78% of the planet’s radius. Above this layer is an atmosphere composed mainly of hydrogen. But this layer is neither gas nor liquid. Due to the high temperature and pressure on the planet, hydrogen is said to be in a supercritical fluid state. It can be considered to be gaseous in the upper layers and then moving towards the core, it starts to appear in the liquid form. In short, there is no boundary; you just traverse through layers of gas of varying densities.

We don’t know a lot about the planet’s structure. The Juno spacecraft, launched in 2011, reached Jupiter’s orbit in July 2016. One of its mission is to study the composition of the giant gas planet.

Source

What is Jupiter Made Of? – space.com

2 thoughts on “Jupiter’s land mass: It doesn’t really have any!”

Devendra says:

January 28, 2022 at 10:05 AM

My point of view, Jupiter does not have land mass. but in future of billions year later, Jupiter will form own land mass. Many of asteroids and well moons of Jupiter may take on his gravity, asteroids and small moons around the Jupiter may falls into gravity of Jupiter. As of now, asteroids pieces are never back out of Jupiter planet, so those Asteroids and moon land mass form the land to Jupiter and also gravity of Jupiter may can decrease further land formation. So, our earth also land is formed by we can see that Jupiter and Saturn Planet is an example of our planet formation. Another point of view, If Jupiter is increasing their own planet size, Then Jupiter might be blast at any time of billion years. Later Within Sun gravity, mercury might be collapse into sun surface, other than planets can move towards or far from the Sun Gravity.

Maja Nyholm says:

January 21, 2020 at 12:58 PM

Like the sun, Jupiter is composed predominantly of hydrogen and helium. But unlike the sun, it lacks the necessary amount to begin fusion, the process that fuels a star. Jupiter would need to be 75 to 80 times more massive than it is at present to be considered a star. If all of the planets in the solar system had formed as part of the gas giant, it still would not have sufficient mass. Still, by itself, Jupiter is two and a half times larger than all of the other planets in the solar system combined.