A diagram of
Jupiter showing a model of the planet's interior, with a rocky
core overlaid by a deep layer of liquid
metallic hydrogen and an outer layer predominantly of
molecular hydrogen. Jupiter's true interior composition is uncertain. For instance, the core may have shrunk as convection currents of hot liquid metallic hydrogen mixed with the molten core and carried its contents to higher levels in the planetary interior. Furthermore, there is no clear physical boundary between the hydrogen layers—with increasing depth the gas increases smoothly in temperature and density, ultimately becoming liquid.
Diagram: Kelvin Song
