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Saturn has a hot interior, reaching 11,700 °C (21,100 °F) at its core, and radiates 2.5 times more energy into space than it receives from the Sun. Jupiter's thermal energy is generated by the Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism of slow gravitational compression; but such a process alone may not be sufficient to explain heat production for Saturn ...
The poles of astronomical bodies are determined based on their axis of rotation in relation to the celestial poles of the celestial sphere. Astronomical bodies include stars, planets, dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies such as comets and minor planets (e.g., asteroids), as well as natural satellites and minor-planet moons.
The Earth's cold trap is located about 12 km above sea level, well below the height in which water vapor would be permanently split apart into hydrogen and oxygen by solar UV rays and the former irreversibly being lost to space. Because of the cold trap in the Earth's atmosphere, the Earth is actually losing water to space at a rate of only 1 ...
In astronomy or planetary science, the frost line, also known as the snow line or ice line, is the minimum distance from the central protostar of a solar nebula where the temperature is low enough for volatile compounds such as water, ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide to condense into solid grains, which will allow their accretion into planetesimals.
The density of matter in the interstellar medium can vary considerably: the average is around 10 6 particles per m 3, [136] but cold molecular clouds can hold 10 8 –10 12 per m 3. [39] [134] A number of molecules exist in interstellar space, which can form dust particles as tiny as 0.1 μm. [137]
Sun [7] [8] 5778 K. Sun [9] [10] 274 m/s 2. Sun [11] Major planet: 0.7 g/cm 3 Saturn [12] [13] 5.51 g/cm 3 Earth [14] [15] 73 K Neptune [16] [17] [18] 733 K Venus [19] 3.70 m/s 2 Mercury [18] 23.1 m/s 2 Jupiter [18] Dwarf planet: 1.4 ±0.2 g/cm 3 Orcus [20] [NB 1] 2.52 ±0.05 g/cm 3 Eris [21] 30 K Makemake. 167 K Ceres. ≈0.2 m/s 2 Orcus: 0.8 ...
A cold hydrogen-rich gas giant more massive than Jupiter but less than about 500 M E (1.6 M J) will only be slightly larger in volume than Jupiter. [9] For masses above 500 M E, gravity will cause the planet to shrink (see degenerate matter). [9] Kelvin–Helmholtz heating can cause a gas giant to radiate more energy than it receives from its ...
Titan is tidally locked, so the same part of Titan always faces Saturn, and there is no separate "month" cycle. Seasonal change is driven by Saturn's year: it takes Saturn about 29.5 Earth years to orbit the Sun, exposing different amounts of sunlight to Titan's northern and southern hemispheres during different parts of the Saturnian year.