Far beyond Earth, in the solar nebula, lies an ice belt, and beyond this lie the four Jovian planets. They are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Jovian means "similar to Jupiter" and the rest coincides with the name. Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn all bear the same traits as Jupiter. they are large gas giants that contain primarily a dense atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. These planets do not have solid surfaces, instead they become denser with depth. They contain a lot of mass and usually have a mass between 15 and 318 times the mass of the earth. They also contain many satellites and the gravity is much stronger than Earth's. the internal structure is probably made up of a rocky core of metals, water, ammonia and methane. Usually these cores are about the same size as the earth, perhaps a little larger. It is also possible that the core of Uranus and Neptune is liquid rather than solid. they have more or less the same rotation characteristics and are all surrounded by rings. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayJupiter, the first of the , reigns supreme throughout the solar system. It is named after the Roman god Jupiter, the ruler of Olympus; Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and is also the largest planet in Earth's solar system. It is 318 times more massive than Earth and represents two-thirds of the solar system's planetary mass. The surface of Jupiter, unlike Earth, is gaseous and not solid. It is composed of approximately 90% hydrogen and 10% helium with traces of methane, ammonia, water and rock. The interior of Jupiter is very similar to the interior of the Sun but with a much lower temperature. However, it is still unknown, but it is believed that Jupiter has a core of liquid metallic hydrogen. This exotic element can only be reached at a pressure above 4 million bar. Jupiter radiates more energy into space than it receives from the sun. Jupiter's interior is hot and is estimated to reach 20,000 degrees Kelvin. Heat is generated by the Kelvin-Hemholtz mechanism, or the gravitational compression of a planet. It emits 1.5 to 2 times more energy than the sun. The source of this heat is hypothesized to be due to the planet's rapid rotation and its liquid metallic hydrogen core. Liquid metallic hydrogen consists primarily of ionized protons and electrons and is the electrical conductor and source of Jupiter's magnetic field. This magnetic field "rotates in less than 10 hours and is churned by convective currents. The result is the strongest magnetic field in the solar system." (Seeds, 516). This magnetic field is so large that it extends beyond Saturn and is sufficiently electrified to send charges into Earth's magnetic field. In the 1970s, Pioneer and Voyager flew by Jupiter and discovered the large magnetic field or magnetosphere. The magnetosphere is not in the true sense of the word a perfect sphere. It is very flattened due to Jupiter's rapid rotation. This magnetic field causes phenomena such as strong lightning and even an aurora similar to Earth's Northern Lights. Jupiter, unlike Earth, has three distinct weather production zones, or a troposphere. They are believed to contain ammonia ice, ammonium hydrosulfide, water and ice. In the apparent or higher atmosphere, ammonia ice crystals thrive at a temperature of about 150 degrees Kelvin. Most astronomers theorize that the next level of the atmosphere consists primarily of ammonium hydrosulfide crystals at a temperature of 200 degrees Kelvin. It is also theorized that the third and final level before liquid metallic hydrogen is a layer of liquid ammonia and water droplets. Jupiter's atmosphereit is also plagued by high-speed winds that move in broad bands. These winds blow in opposite directions across the latitude of the planet. Due to chemical reactions and differences, they can be seen wrapping around Jupiter in colorful bands. The light-colored bands are called zones and the dark-colored bands are called belts. It is not known whether the belts and zones are permanent, they have not changed in eighty years of observance. “One theory is that the jet stream at the edge of the belt zone is linked to circulation patterns deep in the liquid interior” (Seeds, 520) One of the most prominent features in Jupiter's atmosphere is the Great Red Spot or GRS . The GRS is an oval of approximately 12,000 by 25,000 km. At first glance the GRS is similar to a hurricane on Earth but with infrared observations and looking at the direction of rotation, scientists concluded that the GRS is a high pressure region whose cloud tops are higher and colder than to the surrounding regions. Similar animosities exist on the other Jovian planets but it is not known how long they will last. Like all Jovian planets, Jupiter has its own ring system. Jupiter's rings are less than 30 kilometers thick and 1.81 planetary radii apart. The rings are at least 100 times harder to see than Saturn's rings. Most particles found in Jupiter's rings are small and have a diameter nearly equal to the wavelength of light. This causes the light to bounce off the particles and spread out, making the rings glow. The particles found in Jupiter's rings are believed to be the remnants of a moon that got too close to the Roche limit and was torn apart. Like a great king with many followers, Jupiter also has an extremely large number of satellites orbiting it. Jupiter's satellites can be divided into two groups. The smaller moons are simply captured asteroids, but the larger moons are like a small planet. Callisto is one of the largest moons orbiting Jupiter. It is slightly larger than Earth's Moon and has a rocky core topped by a mantle of ice. Photographs of Callisto have shown that it is a dead world, mostly dark and full of signs of meteorites. Ganymede, Jupiter's next moon, is also an icy world. It is about fifty percent larger than Earth's Moon. Ganymede is full of craters but also has a grooved surface that suggests the water mantle must have been hot enough to escape and was probably caused by tidal heating. Europa, unlike Callisto and Ganymede, is a rocky moon with a small icy crust. However, this moon is also an active moon. Voyager photos showed an icy surface that had almost no craters and cracks that appeared to allow water to seep through, so it is theorized that Europa is a moon that is still growing and changing. Io is the moon closest to Jupiter. Io is surrounded by a cloud of sulfur, oxygen and sodium. It was also discovered that Io has eight active volcanoes and continues to grow and expand as the volcanoes emit gas and debris. It also receives all its energy from the flow tube Io. The tube is thought to deliver ionized gas to the surface to power volcanoes. Jupiter also has many other small moons called Galilean moons. These moons are thought to be small, captured asteroids. It is also believed that the moons were originally part of the planet itself when it first formed. However, Jupiter in all its glory and moons cannot live up to the beauty of the sixth planet away from the sun. Saturn, one of the most beautiful planets, was discovered by Galileo with a telescope in 1609. Saturn is a truly unique planet as it is "mostlighter than water, with a density of 0.7 grams per cubic centimeter." (Considine) Saturn is only slightly smaller than Jupiter and has many of the same attributes as Jupiter. Saturn is thought to have a liquid metallic region and a small silicate core. It has also been shown that with "infrared observations that Saturn radiates 2.5 to 3 times more energy than it receives from the Sun" (Seeds, 529). they find much deeper in the atmosphere and contrast less. Saturn's atmosphere is slightly different from Jupiter's atmosphere. It is much colder and the temperature seems to change as if there were seasons. Also the winds blow much stronger than on Jupiter They can exceed 500 meters per second and blow predominantly in an eastward direction. Saturn also contains less helium in its composition than Jupiter. Although all Jovian planets have rings, Saturn is by far the best known. When Galileo discovered the rings in 1609, he thought he saw three objects. A central shape with two shapes on either side. It was not until 1659 that Christiaan Huygens discovered the true disk around the planet. Then in 1675 Giovanni Cassani discovered the spaces between the rings. The gaps are now called the Cassanis division. Saturn's rings are named after the letters of the alphabet in the order they were discovered and not the order they actually appear. The outermost edge of the A ring is about "21 times the radius of the earth" (Seeds, 532). Saturn's rings are made up of millions of small particles, mostly water ice. Each ring rotates more slowly on the inside than on the outside. The rings are believed to be two kilometers thick. As the traveler passed near Saturn, it was discovered that there were many gaps between the rings and that there were up to 100 rings around Saturn. Saturn's rings were also found to have rays radiating radially from the ring. Scientists believe the magnetic sphere around Saturn caused microscopic particles to be pulled radially from the rings and light to be scattered much like the rings around Jupiter. Voyager also sent back images of shepherd satellites or two moons orbiting each other. The gravitational pull of these moons is believed to be a major cause of the numerous rings within a ring. While the rings are beautiful, it's still a mystery whether the moon is primordial or part of an icy moon that got too close to Saturn's Roche limit. Saturn also has its own satellites next to its rings. Saturn has seventeen different moons. Most are dead frozen worlds, but there is one large enough to contain oceans. Saturn's largest satellite is Titan, which has a diameter of 5,150 kilometers and is 6% larger than Mercury. It is the second largest satellite in the solar system. It has been proposed that Titan is made up of equal parts rock and ice. It has a very dull feel. It is a very dense "photochemical haze", about 50 kilometers thick. Atmospheric pressure is about 60% greater than Earth's and is mainly composed of nitrogen. Most scientists agree that some form of liquid methane is found on the surface. Some even believe that the surface contains rivers, lakes and even oceans filled with methane. It is also speculated that the sludge produced by methane could be the same sludge that started life here on Earth many centuries ago. Unfortunately, not much more can be learned about Titan until we are able to get beyond its thick, foggy atmosphere. Besides Titan there areeight smaller moons and many other smaller satellites. Most of these moons are geologically dead. A few show signs of cracks and fissures. It is also interesting to point out that the moons are not all spherical in shape, there are some that are highly irregular. Overall, these moons wobble and move in a crazy orbital pattern, unfortunately we haven't learned enough to provide much information about them. The next planet in the wonderful series of Jovian planets is Uranus. Uranus was discovered by Herschel on March 13, 1781 while searching for stellar parallax. Uranus is named after the eldest of the Greek gods. Uranus, like Jupiter, has no surface. It is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium. It has no visible cloud patterns, but its weather is similar to the weather of Jupiter and Saturn. It is thought to have three levels of atmosphere, with water clouds at the first level, followed by ammonia clouds and then methane clouds. Uranus also has the same belt zone pattern as Saturn and Jupiter. This stated that the temperature of Uranus is directly related to the seasons and wind patterns of the belt areas. Uranus' interior does not include the same liquid metallic hydrogen that makes up Jupiter and Saturn. The core is believed to be made of water, ammonia and methane under high pressure which become a conductor strong enough to create a magnetic field around the planet. The magnetosphere is also strange in that it is not centered around Uranus, but is tilted about 60 degrees off its axis. This magnetosphere is also known to cause the phenomenon known as electroglow, or ultraviolet photons released in solar winds. Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus barely releases more energy than it receives from the sun and is thought to have lost much of its internal heat. Like Saturn, Uranus also has rings that were discovered not long ago. In 1977, James Elliot and a team accidentally discovered the rings. There are eleven known rings that vary in size and shape. Unlike Saturn's rings, Uranus' rings are dark in color and relatively thin. The brightest of these rings is known as the epsilon ring. It is full of quite large particles and dust. Uranus is also surrounded by about 15 satellites. The names of Uranus' moons are taken from the writings of the bard William Shakespeare and Pope. Uranus' moons are believed to be made up of dirty ice. Ober, on the outermost moon, named after the fairy king in A Midsummer Night's Dream, is marked by craters and is quite dark. It has a large fissure or fault where water was believed to pour in and flood the craters. Titania, respectively named after the fairy queen in the aforementioned play, is the largest of Uranus' moons. Titania is littered with craters, faults and fissures. It has shown signs of being active but not recently. Uranus also has other moons, but the most unique is Miranda. Miranda's story is violent and tells us that she may have been destroyed. Miranda's surface is also filled with ovoids or oval patterns of unknown origin. The last and final Jovian planet is Neptune. Neptune is named after the god of the sea and is the eighth planet from the sun. Neptune was discovered in 1843 by two people, Adams and Galle. Very little is known about Neptune, and most of the information provided comes from the traveler's encounter. Neptune's interior appears to be like that of Uranus in that it is composed primarily of various ices and rocks. Neptune is assumed to have a small rocky core with an icy mantle with a layer of liquid hydrogen. Like typical gas planets, Neptune has wild winds confined to bands of latitude with large storms or vortices. Neptune, unlike Uranus, has a heat source".