Hydrogen-Helium Mixtures at Megabar Pressures: Implications for Jupiter and Saturn

Models of Jupiter and Saturn postulate a central rock core surrounded by a fluid mixture of hydrogen and helium. These models suggest that the mixture is undergoing phase separation in Saturn but not Jupiter. State-of-the-art total energy calculations of the enthalpy of mixing for ordered alloys of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1991-11, Vol.254 (5034), p.986-989
Main Authors: Klepeis, J. E., Schafer, K. J., Barbee, T. W., Ross, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
661300 - Other Aspects of Physical Science- (1992-)
Alloys
Astrophysics
Atoms
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
Composition
COOLING
DISPERSIONS
Electrons
ELEMENTS
ENTHALPY
FLUIDS
GASES
GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS
HELIUM
High pressure chemistry
HYDROGEN
Jupiter
JUPITER PLANET
MASS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MIXTURES
MORPHOLOGY
NONMETALS
Phase transformations (Statistical physics)
Phase transitions (Physics)
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLANETARY EVOLUTION
Planetary temperature
PLANETS
RARE GASES
Saturn
SATURN PLANET
SIZE
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
Temperature effects
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
Water pressure
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Description
Summary:Models of Jupiter and Saturn postulate a central rock core surrounded by a fluid mixture of hydrogen and helium. These models suggest that the mixture is undergoing phase separation in Saturn but not Jupiter. State-of-the-art total energy calculations of the enthalpy of mixing for ordered alloys of hydrogen and helium confirm that at least partial phase separation has occurred in Saturn and predict that this process has also begun in Jupiter.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.254.5034.986