Jupiter's signification expansion corresponds to astronomy!

1
Today I learned something interesting in the free Astronomy course in Coursera.

The formation of Jupiter is rapid; it forms much faster than all of the inner planets, and faster than the other outer planet, Saturn. Not only that, but when it has completely formed, it is about 11 times larger than the Earth.

In addition to the typical rare metals that all planets have, it contains water, and a lot of Hydrogen and Helium. The inner planets cannot gravitationally bound Hydrogen and Helium to themselves due to the high temperatures in the inner solar nebula. However, at the lower temperatures in the outer nebula, Jupiter was massive enough to gravitationally attract the Hydrogen and Helium gases towards it.

This is significant, because 99% of the mass in the Solar system is contained by the Sun, and of the remaining 1%, 98% of that is Hydrogen and Helium!

So it seems that Jupiter's signification of "Expansion" has some correlation to the planet's history and nature.

About his nature, one of the things that is consistent with this theme is Jupiter's rotation. Jupiter is 11 times larger than the Earth, and yet it completes one rotation about its axis in about 9 hours!

This planet simply screams of Rapid Growth.



Another possible association. In the Temperaments theory, Jupiter is thought to be Hot and Moist.

One way to explain why Jupiter is Hot: Jupiter is much larger, and therefore one can guess that it has experienced more friction with the surroundings than the other planets throughout its formation period. The friction leads to a lot heat transfer, which is why Jupiter is considered Hot.

The Moist part is easy to explain. Most of the water in the outer nebula was bound to Jupiter. This is amplified by the fact that, at some point during the formation of the Solar system, the T-Tauri solar wind will blow away the excess water vapour in the inner sphere to the outer sphere, and Jupiter will accrete most of them.



The study of the heavens is truly fascinating! :)
Interested in Hellenistic astrology? Visit my blog.

The appearance changes, but the essence remains.

2
It is fascinating, isn't it?! :)

I have to say that, at first, the fact that Jupiter is considered Hot didn't really make much sense to me.


Thank you for sharing both the informations and your enthusiasm. :'

Cheers,

aglaya

3
thanks larxene,

i think this type of info is useful and helps give a wider perspective on why the planets may take on certain meanings that don't seem to make sense at first... i remember learning about how uranus rolls on it's belly as opposed to it's axis which made sense to me also when i think of uranus expressing a different type of energy.. good food for thought here. thanks!

4
Actually I must correct myself by saying that Jupiter is Warm, not Hot. That is, moderately hot. Despite having more collisions due to the accretion of Hydrogen, Helium and Solid Ice, the temperature at Jupiter's location is <175 Kelvin.

On Saturn being cold. Since the temperature decreases greatly with distance from the Sun, Saturn is colder than all of the other planets, since it is farthest away from the Sun (and this has in fact been noted by Ptolemy in Tetrabiblos), being at roughly 10 AU away from the Sun compared to Jupiter which is 5 AU away from the Sun.

In addition, the formation of Saturn is much slower and much later, which means that it accumulates less Hydrogen, Helium and Water. As such it probably also experience less collisions. These two factors makes Saturn an excessively cold place.
Interested in Hellenistic astrology? Visit my blog.

The appearance changes, but the essence remains.