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xkcd #3322: Dragonfly (imgs.xkcd.com)
submitted 20 hours ago by [B] to c/xkcd@lemmy.world
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xkcd #3322: Dragonfly

Title text:

I'm excited for Dragonfly, because on the list of places in the solar system that I desperately want more pictures from, 'Titan's surface' is right up there at the top with 'Jupiter's atmosphere.'

Transcript:

Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com

Source: https://xkcd.com/3322/

explainxkcd for #3322

I'm excited for Dragonfly, because on the list of places in the solar system that I desperately want more pictures from, 'Titan's surface' is right up there at the top with 'Jupiter's atmosphere.'
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[–] 57 points 19 hours ago (11 children)

Places where helicopters can work is places with sufficient atmosphere, which is why the list is what it is

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  • [–] 25 points 19 hours ago (10 children)

    Ah, but what if you brought a large balloon, inflated it, and flew a helicopter inside the balloon?

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  • [–] 12 points 18 hours ago (7 children)

    Blowing my mind that Gas Giants are just big ole balloons

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  • [–] 14 points 16 hours ago (6 children)

    It’s an inside out balloon! Gravity holds the atmosphere in, not a cloth sheet

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  • [–] 14 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

    And I have a hard time believing that there isn't some solid or liquid (or maybe some other exotic state of matter, due to the heat and pressure) inner core way down in there, even if it's relatively tiny compared to the size of the planet.

    Even if it was entirely made of gas when it formed, surely some materials would have fallen in over the eons that could stay solid/liquid at the pressure/temperature of a gas giant's core?

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  • [–] 1 point 26 minutes ago

    Yes, other elements/compounds have fallen into Jupiter over the aeons but even if it was just hydrogen, it is big enough that the pressure alone causes a transition between gas and liquid and farther down solid. There just isn't a set border where you can say that it is one phase on the one side and a different phase on the other. It does more of a slow transition where the gas gets thicker and thicker until at some point you can say it's definitely a liquid instead of a gas, which then gets thicker and thicker until it's not moving anymore.

    Similar for Saturn.

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