Juno Results: Implications on the Origin and Evolution of Jupiter and Exoplanets

Results from the Juno investigation of Jupiter have challenged our understanding of Jupiter origin and evolution.  As the archetype of giant planets, the study of Jupiter provides knowledge needed to understand the origin of our own solar system and the planetary systems being discovered around other stars. Jupiter uniquely informs us about the origin of our own planetary system. The mass of Jupiter’s heavy element core and the abundance of heavy elements in the atmosphere discriminate among models for giant planet formation. Measurements by Juno of Jupiter’s gravity field suggest Jupiter’s core is diffuse, extended and contains compositional gradients.  These new results require new models of Jupiter’s formation and evolution.  The gravity science results on the measurement of J4 coupled to current estimates on the hydrogen and helium equation of state suggests Jupiter’s interior composition has low metallicity, potentially solar or even sub-solar.   This is inconsistent with measurements of the atmosphere by both Juno and the Galileo probe which indicate the atmospheric composition is of higher metallicity (2-4x solar).

The combined results from Juno provide new constraints on theories of Jupiter’s formation and evolution and giant planets in general.   A summary of Juno’s results relevant to Jupiter’s formation and evolution will be presented along with a discussion of theoretical implications on Jupiter, and giant planets both within our solar system and beyond.