TAPIR Seminar

In person: 370 Cahill. To Join via Zoom: 851 0756 7442

Abstract: Over the past decade, the Juno and Cassini spacecraft have revealed the existence of inhomogeneous interior structures in Jupiter and Saturn. Similarly, measurements of the gravitational field of Uranus have been more compatible with an inhomogeneous interior for many decades. More recently, formation models of the gas giants suggest that these planets may not have started fully convective, as past interior structure models assumed. Inhomogeneous evolution is required to explain the lower-order gravitational field, helium abundances, effective temperatures, and radii of Jupiter and Saturn via fuzzy cores and helium rain. Our Saturn evolution models align with the recent Kronoseismology results from Cassini.  Similarly, inhomogeneous interior evolution is required to explain the gravitational harmonics, radius, atmospheric abundances, and the long-standing luminosity dichotomy of Uranus and Neptune.  Provided that all of our Solar System gas giants likely harbor extended regions that are stable to convection, this has implications for how we model giant exoplanet evolution generally. Throughout this work, I present new evolution models of the Solar System gas giants, guided by formation models and their gravitational harmonic measurements. I will also present new evolution models of gas giant exoplanets with fuzzy cores to interpret new observations in the era of JWST and beyond.