Jupiter and Saturn full of liquid metal helium

UC Berkeley ^ | Aug 6, 2008 | Rachel Tompa

[decimon]

I guess this wouldn't work in party balloons.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

With all that substance under the surface, Jupiter and Saturn would make a perfect president and vice-presidental nominee team for the Democratic party.

[the invisib1e hand]

fyi.

[the invisib1e hand]

With all that substance under the surface, Jupiter and Saturn would make a perfect president and vice-presidental nominee team for the Democratic party.

Nah...the stuff under their surfaces is more than dirt.

[the invisib1e hand]

I’m still waiting for the planet of lithe, buxom beauties.

[Mr_Moonlight]

When we find the planet that rains gummy bears, I’m going to be sooooo pissed.

Chew HERE, Chew NOW, go to Dentist and get Drilled (Here, Now, etc :)

[decimon]

...just a block away, the universe is filled with everything you could possibly want.

Other than what you need to live.

I hope we do get to the point where we can mine the solar system. And live for some time on Mars. The planet Mars, that is, and not candy bars. ;-)

[decimon]

I’m still waiting for the planet of lithe, buxom beauties.

72?

[editor-surveyor]

Sounds like BS to me.

Helium is an inert, and liquid helium doesn’t behave like a metal on Earth; its a nonconductor for starters.

[the invisib1e hand]

That’s a start.

[Doomonyou]

a liquid metal alloy.

That's where those terminator dudes come from.

[muawiyah]

Except for the vastly different pressures involved you might be correct.

[6SJ7]

This finding also speaks to one of the many mysteries of these large planets, Stixrude said. More energy is emitted from Jupiter and Saturn than they absorb from the sun, and scientists don't understand where it comes from.

I've read theories that Jupiter is a failed binary star. It's almost large enough to sustain fusion, but it missed it by that much.

[coconutt2000]

With all that substance under the surface, Jupiter and Saturn would make a perfect president and vice-presidental nominee team for the Democratic party.

All that potential for "hot air"?

[Reeses]

droplets of helium condense out of the planets' outer atmospheres and fall to their centers as "helium rain," releasing gravitational energy.

Sounds like BS to me too, like too much gravitational energy hit their head. It seems likely some nuclear fusion is going on generating the extra energy. Jupiter is essentially a small star that failed to ignite.

[ETL]

Speaking of Jupiter, you can now see it easily by eye after sunset. It's currently rising (breaking the horizon) at around 6:15pm (eastern time, U.S.). In fact, it is so bright that you might think it's the headlight of an approaching airplane. Distance from Earth at this time: almost exactly 400 million miles.

Note: although it's 'rising' at around 6pm ET, depending on your viewing location (obstructions etc), it likely won't be high enough for you to see it for another hour or so.

A good website for rising and setting times for the planets, also for viewable International Space Station (ISS) passes, and there are currently some bright ones over parts of the United States, is Heavens-Above.com:
http://heavens-above.com/

Finally, Venus is just now beginning to emerge again as an "evening star". However, you probably won't be able to see it easily for another few weeks, when it moves more eastward of the Sun. At that time, look west after sunset for a spectacular white light. It will eventually be even brighter than Jupiter is at the moment.

[decimon]

That's where those terminator dudes come from.

I thought from Hollywood. "liquid metal helium" is about as strange as anything from Hollywood.

[decimon]

I've read theories that Jupiter is a failed binary star.

The Paris Hilton of planets?

[RJL]

A strange, metal brew lies buried deep within Jupiter and Saturn, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and in London.

How will they tie this to global warming?