Jupiter mass

Last updated
Jupiter mass
Masses of gas giants.svg
Relative masses of the giant planets of the outer Solar System
General information
Unit system Astronomical system of units
Unit of mass
SymbolMJ, MJup or M♃
Conversions
1 MJin ...... is equal to ...
    SI base unit    (1.89813±0.00019)×1027  kg [1]
    U.S. customary    ≈ 4.1847×1027 pounds

The Jupiter mass, also called Jovian mass, is the unit of mass equal to the total mass of the planet Jupiter. This value may refer to the mass of the planet alone, or the mass of the entire Jovian system to include the moons of Jupiter. Jupiter is by far the most massive planet in the Solar System. It is approximately 2.5 times as massive as all of the other planets in the Solar System combined. [2]

Contents

Jupiter mass is a common unit of mass in astronomy that is used to indicate the masses of other similarly-sized objects, including the outer planets, extrasolar planets, and brown dwarfs, as this unit provides a convenient scale for comparison.

Current best estimates

The current best known value for the mass of Jupiter can be expressed as 1898130  yottagrams : [1]

which is about 1⁄1000 as massive as the Sun (is about 0.1% M☉): [3]

Jupiter is 318 times as massive as Earth:

Context and implications

Jupiter's mass is 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined—this is so massive that its barycenter with the Sun lies beyond the Sun's surface at 1.068  solar radii from the Sun's center. [4]

Because the mass of Jupiter is so large compared to the other objects in the Solar System, the effects of its gravity must be included when calculating satellite trajectories and the precise orbits of other bodies in the Solar System, including the Moon and even Pluto.

Theoretical models indicate that if Jupiter had much more mass than it does at present, its atmosphere would collapse, and the planet would shrink. [5] For small changes in mass, the radius would not change appreciably, but above about 500  ME (1.6 Jupiter masses) [5] the interior would become so much more compressed under the increased pressure that its volume would decrease despite the increasing amount of matter. As a result, Jupiter is thought to have about as large a diameter as a planet of its composition and evolutionary history can achieve. [6] The process of further shrinkage with increasing mass would continue until appreciable stellar ignition was achieved, as in high-mass brown dwarfs having around 50 Jupiter masses. [7] Jupiter would need to be about 80 times as massive to fuse hydrogen and become a star. [8]

Gravitational constant

The mass of Jupiter is derived from the measured value called the Jovian mass parameter, which is denoted with GMJ. The mass of Jupiter is calculated by dividing GMJ by the constant G . For celestial bodies such as Jupiter, Earth and the Sun, the value of the GM product is known to many orders of magnitude more precisely than either factor independently. The limited precision available for G limits the uncertainty of the derived mass. For this reason, astronomers often prefer to refer to the gravitational parameter, rather than the explicit mass. The GM products are used when computing the ratio of Jupiter mass relative to other objects.

In 2015, the International Astronomical Union defined the nominal Jovian mass parameter to remain constant regardless of subsequent improvements in measurement precision of MJ. This constant is defined as exactly

If the explicit mass of Jupiter is needed in SI units, it can be calculated by dividing GM by G, where G is the gravitational constant. [9]

Mass composition

The majority of Jupiter's mass is hydrogen and helium. These two elements make up more than 87% of the total mass of Jupiter. [10] The total mass of heavy elements other than hydrogen and helium in the planet is between 11 and 45 ME. [11] The bulk of the hydrogen on Jupiter is solid hydrogen. [12] Evidence suggests that Jupiter contains a central dense core. If so, the mass of the core is predicted to be no larger than about 12 ME. The exact mass of the core is uncertain due to the relatively poor knowledge of the behavior of solid hydrogen at very high pressures. [10]

Relative mass

Masses of noteworthy astronomical objects relative to the mass of Jupiter
ObjectMJ / MobjectMobject / MJRef
Sun 9.547919(15)×10−41047.348644(17) [3]
Earth 317.828380.0031463520 [13]
Jupiter 11by definition
Saturn 3.33976830.29942197 [note 1]
Uranus 21.8675520.045729856 [note 1]
Neptune 18.534670.05395295 [note 1]
Gliese 229B 21–52.4 [14]
51 Pegasi b 0.472±0.039 [15]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Some of the values in this table are nominal values, derived from Numerical Standards for Fundamental Astronomy [3] and rounded using appropriate attention to significant figures, as recommended by the IAU Resolution B3. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giant planet</span> Planet much larger than the Earth

A giant planet, sometimes referred to as a jovian planet, is a diverse type of planet much larger than Earth. Giant planets are usually primarily composed of low-boiling point materials (volatiles), rather than rock or other solid matter, but massive solid planets can also exist. There are four such planets in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Many extrasolar giant planets have been identified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tau Ceti</span> Single yellow-hued star in the constellation Cetus

Tau Ceti, Latinized from τ Ceti, is a single star in the constellation Cetus that is spectrally similar to the Sun, although it has only about 78% of the Sun's mass. At a distance of just under 12 light-years from the Solar System, it is a relatively nearby star and the closest solitary G-class star. The star appears stable, with little stellar variation, and is metal-deficient relative to the Sun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jupiter</span> Fifth planet from the Sun

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, and slightly less than one-thousandth the mass of the Sun. Its diameter is eleven times that of Earth, and a tenth that of the Sun. Jupiter orbits the Sun at a distance of 5.20 AU (778.5 Gm), with an orbital period of 11.86 years. It is the third brightest natural object in the Earth's night sky, after the Moon and Venus, and has been observed since prehistoric times. Its name derives from that of Jupiter, the chief deity of ancient Roman religion.

The orbital period is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroids orbiting the Sun, moons orbiting planets, exoplanets orbiting other stars, or binary stars. It may also refer to the time it takes a satellite orbiting a planet or moon to complete one orbit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar mass</span> Standard unit of mass in astronomy

The solar mass (M☉) is a standard unit of mass in astronomy, equal to approximately 2×1030 kg. It is approximately equal to the mass of the Sun. It is often used to indicate the masses of other stars, as well as stellar clusters, nebulae, galaxies and black holes. More precisely, the mass of the Sun is

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barycenter (astronomy)</span> Center of mass of multiple bodies orbiting each other

In astronomy, the barycenter is the center of mass of two or more bodies that orbit one another and is the point about which the bodies orbit. A barycenter is a dynamical point, not a physical object. It is an important concept in fields such as astronomy and astrophysics. The distance from a body's center of mass to the barycenter can be calculated as a two-body problem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Himalia (moon)</span> Moon of Jupiter (Jupiter VI)

Himalia, also known as Jupiter VI, is the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter. With a diameter of at least 140 km (90 mi), it is the sixth largest Jovian satellite, after the four Galilean moons and Amalthea. It was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory on 3 December 1904 and is named after the nymph Himalia, who bore three sons of Zeus. It is one of the largest planetary moons in the Solar System not imaged in detail, and the third largest not imaged in detail within the orbit of Neptune.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super-Jupiter</span> Class of planets with more mass than Jupiter

A super-Jupiter is a gas giant exoplanet that is more massive than the planet Jupiter. For example, companions at the planet–brown dwarf borderline have been called super-Jupiters, such as around the star Kappa Andromedae.

Solar radius is a unit of distance used to express the size of stars in astronomy relative to the Sun. The solar radius is usually defined as the radius to the layer in the Sun's photosphere where the optical depth equals 2/3:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism</span> Process of energy release of a contracting star or planet

The Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism is an astronomical process that occurs when the surface of a star or a planet cools. The cooling causes the internal pressure to drop, and the star or planet shrinks as a result. This compression, in turn, heats the core of the star/planet. This mechanism is evident on Jupiter and Saturn and on brown dwarfs whose central temperatures are not high enough to undergo hydrogen fusion. It is estimated that Jupiter radiates more energy through this mechanism than it receives from the Sun, but Saturn might not. Jupiter has been estimated to shrink at a rate of approximately 1 mm/year by this process, corresponding to an internal flux of 7.485 W/m2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill sphere</span> Region in which an astronomical body dominates the attraction of satellites

The Hill sphere is a common model for the calculation of a gravitational sphere of influence. It is the most commonly used model to calculate the spatial extent of gravitational influence of an astronomical body (m) in which it dominates over the gravitational influence of other bodies, particularly a primary (M). It is sometimes confused with other models of gravitational influence, such as the Laplace sphere or being called the Roche sphere, the latter causing confusion with the Roche limit. It was defined by the American astronomer George William Hill, based on the work of the French astronomer Édouard Roche.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metallicity</span> Relative abundance of heavy elements in a star or other astronomical object

In astronomy, metallicity is the abundance of elements present in an object that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. Most of the normal currently detectable matter in the universe is either hydrogen or helium, and astronomers use the word "metals" as convenient shorthand for "all elements except hydrogen and helium". This word-use is distinct from the conventional chemical or physical definition of a metal as an electrically conducting solid. Stars and nebulae with relatively high abundances of heavier elements are called "metal-rich" when discussing metallicity, even though many of those elements are called nonmetals in chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HD 28185 b</span> Gas giant orbiting HD 28185

HD 28185 b is an extrasolar planet 128 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Eridanus. The planet was discovered orbiting the Sun-like star HD 28185 in April 2001 as a part of the CORALIE survey for southern extrasolar planets, and its existence was independently confirmed by the Magellan Planet Search Survey in 2008. HD 28185 b orbits its sun in a circular orbit that is at the inner edge of its star's habitable zone.

Solar-like oscillations are oscillations in stars that are excited in the same way as those in the Sun, namely by turbulent convection in its outer layers. Stars that show solar-like oscillations are called solar-like oscillators. The oscillations are standing pressure and mixed pressure-gravity modes that are excited over a range in frequency, with the amplitudes roughly following a bell-shaped distribution. Unlike opacity-driven oscillators, all the modes in the frequency range are excited, making the oscillations relatively easy to identify. The surface convection also damps the modes, and each is well-approximated in frequency space by a Lorentzian curve, the width of which corresponds to the lifetime of the mode: the faster it decays, the broader is the Lorentzian. All stars with surface convection zones are expected to show solar-like oscillations, including cool main-sequence stars, subgiants and red giants. Because of the small amplitudes of the oscillations, their study has advanced tremendously thanks to space-based missions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doppler spectroscopy</span> Indirect method for finding extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs

Doppler spectroscopy is an indirect method for finding extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs from radial-velocity measurements via observation of Doppler shifts in the spectrum of the planet's parent star. As of November 2022, about 19.5% of known extrasolar planets have been discovered using Doppler spectroscopy.

A substellar object, sometimes called a substar, is an astronomical object, the mass of which is smaller than the smallest mass at which hydrogen fusion can be sustained. This definition includes brown dwarfs and former stars similar to EF Eridani B, and can also include objects of planetary mass, regardless of their formation mechanism and whether or not they are associated with a primary star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jupiter radius</span> Unit of length in astronomy

The Jupiter radius or Jovian radius has a value of 71,492 km (44,423 mi), or 11.2 Earth radii (R🜨). The Jupiter radius is a unit of length used in astronomy to describe the radii of gas giants and some exoplanets. It is also used in describing brown dwarfs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrodynamic escape</span> Method by which atoms of a planets atmosphere are ejected into space

In atmospheric science, hydrodynamic escape refers to a thermal atmospheric escape mechanism that can lead to the escape of heavier atoms of a planetary atmosphere through numerous collisions with lighter atoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gas giant</span> Giant planet mainly composed of light elements

A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" was originally synonymous with "giant planet". However, in the 1990s, it became known that Uranus and Neptune are really a distinct class of giant planets, being composed mainly of heavier volatile substances. For this reason, Uranus and Neptune are now often classified in the separate category of ice giants.

Kepler-1625b is a super-Jupiter exoplanet orbiting the Sun-like star Kepler-1625 about 2,500 parsecs away in the constellation of Cygnus. The large gas giant is approximately the same radius as Jupiter, and orbits its star every 287.4 days. In 2017, hints of a Neptune-sized exomoon in orbit of the planet was found using photometric observations collected by the Kepler Mission. Further evidence for a Neptunian moon was found the following year using the Hubble Space Telescope, where two independent lines of evidence constrained the mass and radius to be Neptune-like. The mass-signature has been independently recovered by two other teams. However, the radius-signature was independently recovered by one of the teams but not the other. The original discovery team later showed that this latter study appears affected by systematic error sources that may influence their findings.

References

  1. 1 2 "Planets and Pluto: Physical Characteristics". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Labritory. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  2. ↑ Coffey, Jerry (18 June 2008). "Mass of Jupiter". Universe Today . Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  3. 1 2 3 "Numerical Standards for Fundamental Astronomy". maia.usno.navy.mil. IAU Working Group. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  4. ↑ MacDougal, Douglas W. (November 6, 2012). "A Binary System Close to Home: How the Moon and Earth Orbit Each Other". Newton's Gravity . Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer New York. pp.  193–211. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-5444-1_10. ISBN   9781461454434. the barycenter is 743,000 km from the center of the sun. The Sun's radius is 696,000 km, so it is 47,000 km above the surface.
  5. 1 2 Seager, S.; Kuchner, M.; Hier-Majumder, C. A.; Militzer, B. (2007). "Mass-Radius Relationships for Solid Exoplanets". The Astrophysical Journal. 669 (2): 1279–1297. arXiv: 0707.2895 . Bibcode:2007ApJ...669.1279S. doi:10.1086/521346. S2CID   8369390.
  6. ↑ How the Universe Works 3. Vol. Jupiter: Destroyer or Savior?. Discovery Channel. 2014.
  7. ↑ Guillot, Tristan (1999). "Interiors of Giant Planets Inside and Outside the Solar System". Science. 286 (5437): 72–77. Bibcode:1999Sci...286...72G. doi:10.1126/science.286.5437.72. PMID   10506563.
  8. ↑ Burrows, Adam; Hubbard, William B.; Saumon, D.; Lunine, Jonathan I. (1993). "An expanded set of brown dwarf and very low mass star models". Astrophysical Journal. 406 (1): 158–71. Bibcode:1993ApJ...406..158B. doi: 10.1086/172427 .
  9. 1 2 Mamajek, E. E.; Prsa, A.; Torres, G.; et al. (2015). "IAU 2015 Resolution B3 on Recommended Nominal Conversion Constants for Selected Solar and Planetary Properties". arXiv: 1510.07674 [astro-ph.SR].
  10. 1 2 Guillot, Tristan; Stevenson, David J.; Hubbard, William B.; Saumon, Didier. "The Interior of Jupiter" (PDF). Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  11. ↑ Guillot, Tristan; Gautier, Daniel; Hubbard, William B. (December 1997). "New Constraints on the Composition of Jupiter from Galileo Measurements and Interior Models". Icarus. 130 (2): 534–539. arXiv: astro-ph/9707210 . Bibcode:1997Icar..130..534G. doi:10.1006/icar.1997.5812. S2CID   5466469.
  12. ↑ Öpik, E. J. (January 1962). "Jupiter: Chemical composition, structure, and origin of a giant planet". Icarus. 1 (1–6): 200–257. Bibcode:1962Icar....1..200O. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(62)90022-2.
  13. ↑ "Planetary Fact Sheet – Ratio to Earth". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
  14. ↑ White, Stephen M.; Jackson, Peter D.; Kundu, Mukul R. (December 1989). "A VLA survey of nearby flare stars". Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 71: 895–904. Bibcode:1989ApJS...71..895W. doi:10.1086/191401.
  15. ↑ Martins, J. H. C.; Santos, N. C.; Figueira, P.; et al. (2015). "Evidence for a spectroscopic direct detection of reflected light from 51 Peg b". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 576 (2015): A134. arXiv: 1504.05962 . Bibcode:2015A&A...576A.134M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201425298. S2CID   119224213.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.