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Re: Bernd: Meteor May Not Have Destroyed Dinosaurs Afterall?


>Ron, what other choice do the particles have in staying suspended in the 
>atmosphere of a gas giant like jupiter? There's no ground to settle out onto. 
> Perhaps the finer particles in Jupiters upper reaches of it's atmosphere is 
>preserved because jupiters gravity is too strong to allow these particles to 
>dissipate into space any quicker?

According to the models we have of Jupiter's interior, Jupiter does have a 
solid inner core (about the size of the Earth), which is surrounded by an ocean
of liquid metallic hydrogen, which is further surrounded by an immense 
atmosphere. The atmosphere makes up the bulk of the Jupiter's mass (hence 
it is called a gaseous planet).  The particles will eventually drop into the 
depths of the atmosphere and towards the hydrogen ocean.  However, as the 
particles descend through the atmosphere, they will encounter increasing 
pressure and temperatures, and will vaporize.  At this point, the particles
will be broken into atoms and molecules and will mix in with the 
atmosphere, and become part of Jupiter.  This is in fact was the ultimate 
fate of the Galileo probe, when it parachuted into Jupiter's atmosphere in
1995.  The particles suspended in the upper atmosphere are the ones visible 
to Earth.  

Ron Baalke

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