Speaker:Dali Kong (SHAO)

Title: Studies of Gaseous Giant Planets in the Era of JUNO and Cassini Missions

Abstract 

Gaseous giant planets are a large and important planetary family. Because of their special compositions, internal thermal states and fast spin, gaseous planets have rich atmospheric and interior dynamics, which are mysteriously related to interesting core formation, Helium depletion and evolution history etc. In our Solar system, we luckily have two typical gaseous giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, which are reachable by spacecrafts. As a result, in past decades, our understanding of gaseous planets has kept being improved by relevant space missions. The JUNO and Cassini missions are the most recent two explorations of Jupiter and Saturn respectively. Their observations of the planetary outer space, surface, atmosphere and deep interior have been unprecedentedly precise and detailed. With the help of outcoming data, our perceptions of Jupiter and Saturn have been dramatically updated. But at meanwhile, disputes, doubts and puzzles nevertheless exist or somehow are even more intensified. The fast-broadening horizon for theories and explorations is calling for smart scientific ideas and sophisticated aerospace technologies.