DIX Planetary Science Seminar

Juno and Cassini have transformed our understanding of the interior structures of the solar system's gas giants. Their gravity measurements reveal that both Jupiter and Saturn likely possess dilute or "fuzzy" cores, rather than the traditional compact ones. This finding has profound implications for how heat and heavy elements are transported within these planets, influencing their thermal evolution, luminosities, and atmospheric metallicities. In this talk, I present the first evolutionary models of Jupiter and Saturn that self-consistently incorporate fuzzy cores, helium rain, ammonia cloud physics, and unified microphysics, successfully reproducing each planet's thermal, compositional, and gravity constraints. I further discuss how these insights extend to gas-giant exoplanets, highlighting differences and similarities with the heritage Sonora Bobcat model suite. Lastly, I will talk about some ongoing work on mass loss exhibited by close-in exoplanets and how they have shaped the population we observe today.