Average Temperature Of Jupiter Celsius
Caleb Nelands
With an average temperature of minus 234 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 145 degrees Celsius), Jupiter is frigid even in its warmest weather. Unlike Earth, whose temperature varies as one moves closer to or farther from the equator, Jupiter's temperature depends more on height above the surface. This is because heat is driven not by the sun but by the interior of the planet.
Jupiter is made up predominantly of hydrogen, with some helium. Small traces of other gases also contribute to the planet's composition. These gases fill the entire planet, descending all the way to the core. The surface, as identified by scientists, is the region where the pressure is equal to that at the surface of Earth, one bar. But don't be misled by the term; you can't stand on Jupiter's surface, because it isn't solid. Below the surface, the gas becomes liquid and even plasma, all the way to the central core.
Because Jupiter's distance from the sun is an average of 484 million miles (778 million km), heat from the star is weak, though it does contribute. Much of the heating of the gases come from the inside of planet itself. Beneath the surface, convection from the liquid and plasma hydrogen generate more heat than from the sun. This convection keeps the massive gas giant warm enough to avoid it freezing into an icy world.
Jupiter is a gaseous planet with a hot core, and there is a large temperature gradient between the planet's surface and its core. On the surface, though, the temperature remains constant, and it isn't one that humans would find comfortable if they were able to stand there.
Jupiter has a solid core about the size of Earth, but most of the planet is gaseous, and because of this, it doesn't have a well-defined surface. Scientists therefore define the surface as the atmospheric layer in which the pressure is the same as on the surface of the Earth. At this depth, the temperature is uniform at minus 145 degrees Celsius (minus 234 degrees Fahrenheit), reports Space.com.
Scientists estimate the core temperature of Jupiter to be about 24,000 degrees Celsius (43,000 degrees Fahrenheit), which is hotter than the surface of the sun. This puts the average temperature inside the planet in the neighborhood of 12,000 degrees Celsius (21,500 degrees Fahrenheit).
Chris Deziel holds a Bachelor's degree in physics and a Master's degree in Humanities, He has taught science, math and English at the university level, both in his native Canada and in Japan. He began writing online in 2010, offering information in scientific, cultural and practical topics. His writing covers science, math and home improvement and design, as well as religion and the oriental healing arts.
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It's is no secret that Earth is the only inhabited planet in our Solar System. All the planets besides Earth lack a breathable atmosphere for terrestrial beings, but also, many of them are too hot or too cold to sustain life.
A "habitable zone" which exists within every system of planets orbiting a star. Those planets that are too close to their sun are molten and toxic, while those that are too far outside it are icy and frozen.
But at the same time, forces other than position relative to our Sun can affect surface temperatures. For example, some planets are tidally locked, which means that they have one of their sides constantly facing towards the Sun. Others are warmed by internal geological forces and achieve some warmth that does not depend on exposure to the Sun's rays.
Of our eight planets, Mercury is closest to the Sun. As such, one would expect it to experience the hottest temperatures in our Solar System. However, since Mercury also has no atmosphere and it also spins very slowly compared to the other planets, the surface temperature varies quite widely.
What this means is that the side exposed to the Sun remains exposed for some time, allowing surface temperatures to reach up to a molten 465 C. Meanwhile, on the dark side, temperatures can drop off to a frigid -184C. Hence, Mercury varies between extreme heat and extreme cold and is not the hottest planet in our Solar System.
These gases create a strong greenhouse effect which traps a significant portion of the Sun's heat in the atmosphere and turns the planet surface into a barren, molten landscape. The surface is also marked by extensive volcanoes and lava flows, and rained on by clouds of sulfuric acid. Not a hospitable place by any measure!
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and so far is the only planet that we know of that is capable of supporting life. The average surface temperature here is 7.2C, but it varies due to a number of factors. For one, our world's axis is tilted, which means that one hemisphere is slanted towards the Sun during certain times of the year while the other is slanted away.
This not only causes seasonal changes, but ensures that places located closer to the equator are hotter, while those located at the poles are colder. It's little wonder then why the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was in the deserts of Iran (70.7 C) while the lowest was recorded in Antarctica (-89.2 C).
Since Jupiter is a gas giant, it has no solid surface, so it has no surface temperature. But measurements taken from the top of Jupiter's clouds indicate a temperature of approximately -145C. Closer to the center, the planet's temperature increases due to atmospheric pressure.
Due to its distance from the Sun, Saturn is a rather cold gas giant planet, with an average temperature of -178 Celsius. But because of Saturn's tilt, the southern and northern hemispheres are heated differently, causing seasonal temperature variation.
And much like Jupiter, the temperature in the upper atmosphere of Saturn is cold, but increases closer to the center of the planet. At the core of the planet, temperatures are believed to reach as high as 11,700 C.
Uranus is the coldest planet in our Solar System, with a lowest recorded temperature of -224C. Despite its distance from the Sun, the largest contributing factor to its frigid nature has to do with its core.
Much like the other gas giants in our Solar System, the core of Uranus gives off far more heat than is absorbed from the Sun. However, with a core temperature of approximately 4,737 C, Uranus' interior gives of only one-fifth the heat that Jupiter's does and less than half that of Saturn.
With temperatures dropping to -218C in Neptune's upper atmosphere, the planet is one of the coldest in our Solar System. And like all of the gas giants, Neptune has a much hotter core, which is around 7,000C.
In short, the Solar System runs the gambit from extreme cold to extreme hot, with plenty of variance and only a few places that are temperate enough to sustain life. And of all of those, it is only planet Earth that seems to strike the careful balance required to sustain it perpetually.
Next is Venus, which has a really thick atmosphere made up of lots of gases that give it yellow clouds. It has a strong greenhouse effect, similar to the one we experience on Earth. Because of this, Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. The surface of Venus is approximately 465C!
Fourth from the Sun, after Earth, is Mars. We have sent lots of satellites and rovers to Mars, so we have a better understanding of the temperature on the surface and how weather changes across a Martian year. You can even look at the temperature right now on Mars! On average, the temperature on Mars is -63C, but can reach up to 30C and go as low as -140C!
Roughly, the temperature of the planets decreases as you get further from the Sun. But this is not always the case! Important factors need to be looked at, such as the seasons of the planet, the tilt, and whether it has an atmosphere. To fully understand how temperature varies between each planet, we need to send more spacecrafts to the planets to monitor the temperature.
Jupiter's temperature at night depends on a lot of factors. The latitude and the depth in the atmosphere are the most important. First, there is probably not much difference between daytime and nighttime temperature. The rotational period of Jupiter is about ten hours, so night is only 5 hours long. This does not allow much time for cooling and heating during a day cycle. Second and most important, the place in the atmosphere will play a part in the temperature. At the place where the atmosphere is at the same pressure as Earth's (1 atmosphere) the average temperature is about -110 C. Closer to the surface, the temperature would be higher. Farther out it would be lower. Due to the immense thickness of the atmosphere, I would say they is not much variation at the 1 atmosphere level between daytime and nighttime, so use the -110 C figure as a guide. S if you really want to know the answer dog, its -110.
In Jupiter the temperature changes very often. In the day Jupiter is 250 degrees but at night it is 143 degrees.
Sitting more than five times the distance from the Sun as the Earth, Jupiter is not expected to be particularly warm. Based on the amount of sunlight received, the average temperature in the giant planet's upper atmosphere should be about 200 K or a chilly -73 Celsius. Instead, the measured value sits around 700 K or 420 Celsius. The source of this global heat has remained elusive for 50 years, causing scientists to refer to the discrepancy as an "energy crisis" for the planet.
Now research led by James O'Donoghue (JAXA) has found the likely source of Jupiter's thermal boost. By creating the highest resolution global maps to date of the temperature of Jupiter's upper atmosphere, the team has revealed that the main source of the extra heat is Jupiter's powerful aurora.
Auroras occur when charged particles are caught in a planet's magnetic field. These spiral along the field lines towards the planet's magnetic poles, striking atoms and molecules in the atmosphere to release light and energy. On Earth, this leads to the characteristic light show that forms the aurora borealis and australis. On Jupiter, the material spewing from its volcanic moon, Io, leads to the most powerful aurora in the Solar System and enormous heating in the polar regions of the planet. Although the Jovian aurorae have been a long-standing candidate heat source for the majority of the planet, observations have previously been unable to confirm or deny this until now.