What are the four gas giant planets like?
1 Answer
Jupiter and Saturn are true gas giants. Uranus and Neptune are different and known as ice giants.
Explanation:
Jupiter and Saturn are true gas giants as they are over 90% Hydrogen and Helium by mass. Jupiter is more than twice the mass of Saturn. We are not entirely certain what the composition of these planet are. The Juno mission which is a spacecraft current in orbit around Jupiter is designed to improve our understanding of the planet. It is possible that gas giants have a rocky core, but this is not certain. Deep inside the planets Hydrogen will be compressed into a metallic solid form.
Uranus and Neptune are called ice giants and are less that 20% Hydrogen and Helium. They contain heavier elements such as Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen and Sulphur and their compounds such as methane, ammonia and water. They are called ice giants because the material they were formed from would have been frozen ices or trapped inside water ice.
Uranus and Neptune have similar masses. Saturn is more than 5 times more massive than both of them.
