Do gas giants actually have a solid core? If so, how big are they usually?
In: 343
How big: One estimate suggests that Jupiter has a core one and a half times the size of Earth, but thirty times heavier.
But we’re not really sure, and as others have said, the dividing line between dense gas and solid is pretty blurry.
Follow up: how can you tell from earth that a planet is a gas giant?
Any one else thought OP meant Chevron, Mobil, Shell, etc.?
Follow up question. How do they form and turn into that state? Surley the gravity required is immense and would be near impossible to happen?
Yes they do have solid cores, but very small compared to their total size. There is no “surface” though between the gas and the solid core though. As you go deeper and deeper into a gas giant the atmosphere undergoes phase changes. Think a slow transition from thin gas to a very hot, very dense, very viscous liquid, and at certain depths with enough pressure, solid hydrogen just from the pressure.